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Written By: Agencies | Published : October 29, 2013 5:09 PM IST
8 more children have died in UP's Gorakhpur district due to encephalitis, taking the total toll to 466 for 2013. Since its first outbreak in 1978, as many as 6500 children have died due to the disease. Still, not enough has been done by the government for its prevention.
What is encephalitis?
Encephalitis is a disease that results in inflammation of the brain. The patient's central nervous system is affected. While the lesser symptoms include headaches and fevers, the more severe ones cause the onset of mental issues like seizures, confusion, disorientation, tremors and hallucinations. It can be caused due to bacterial or viral infections of the brain, injection of toxic substances or increased complications of an infectious disease. Japanese Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral form of encephalitis. Mortality is usually high among children. About 0.4% JE advances to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), a severe case of the disease characterised by inflammation of the brain. The effect on the patient's central nervous system results in fever and/or sudden onset of mental symptoms like seizures, confusion, disorientation, etc. It can be caused due to bacterial or viral infections of the brain, toxic substances or increased complications of an infectious disease. (Read more)
Why is UP the most affected?
Even though, it's a disease that affects people throughout the country- people living in Gorakhpur and adjoining areas near the Nepal border are susceptible to floods. These floods then make a good breeding ground for the mosquitoes to thirve and spread the disease.
How can it be prevented?
Even though there is no cure for the disease, there is a preventive vaccine. Just last week, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad launched an indigenous vaccine for Japanese encephalitis.
There was a mass vaccination program in 2006, but it was largely unsuccessful as only 35% of the children were immunized. For the next three years there were no more vaccination programs. The government records show that the number of deaths due to Japanese encephalitis is declining, but other strains of the virus are increasing and the yearly affliction and death of people due to this disease has become a regular occurrence .
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