JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS; SILENT DISEASE, KILLING PEOPLE IN BIHAR

SILENT KILLER; CAUSING EXODUS IN BIHAR

Following more than two dozen deaths in Gaya district of the state of Bihar in a couple of weeks, the government has given a wake up call to the health officials in the state headquarters and asked them to launch a special anti-encephalitis vaccination drive on 12^th the November 2009 in affected areas in Gaya district.

In a couple of weeks, more than 100 patients have reached to Anugraha Naryan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) Gaya who showed signs of Japanese encephalitis. Although government denies, many NGOs working in the areas say that more than 25 patients mostly children of poor family have lost their lives due this silent killer disease.

Japanese encephalitis has been taking heavy tolls in some areas in Bihar and Eastern UP. According to BBC, from 1974 to 2005 about 8000 people including many children have died due to this disease. Gazipur, Kusinagar,  Mirzapur, Gorakhpur in UP are badly affected by this disease and hundreds of people, mostly children die due to this it.

In Vashali and Muzaffarpur districts in Bihar, 39 people died in the month of August- September, 2009 itself which caused much furore in the government circle, but after some time again everything went as usual.

Similarly in Kharagpur sub-division of Munger district, more than 100 tribal died due this encephalitis and Union government had to send a medical team in the affected area to collect blood sample for making laboratory test in Delhi. What happened thereafter, hardly known to the people suffering from this epidemic.  

Japanese encephalitis is caused because Culex tritaeniorhynchus, mosquito carries Japanese encephalitis virus into human being from wild pigs and birds. These mosquitoes grow in dark and damp places especially near hilly and plateau areas therefore most of the victims are tribal or poor people who live in dark and damp conditions.

Unfortunately, since the victims are mostly neglected and marginalized sections of society, media also pay little or no attention on it. Death of one patient due to H1N1 caused hue and cry across the nation with electronic channels giving running commentary on it, death of thousands of poor people went almost unnoticed and unlamented in the country. This paradox has to come to an end.

  Hopefully the vaccination drive would help mitigate the woes of the suffering people and would give some respite to the people living  in the affected areas.