Japanese Encephalitis & other Viral Meningitis in UP – Status Update

JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS AND OTHER – INDIA (16): (UTTAR PRADESH)

Date: Thu 4 Oct 2012

Source: BBC News [edited]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19825565

At least 390 people, mostly children, have died in an outbreak of viral encephalitis in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials say. More than 2500 patients were admitted to government hospitals in Gorakhpur city this year [2012], Press Trust of India quoted a health official as saying. At least 270 patients were still being treated at the hospitals, he said. The disease is caused by contaminated water. Nearly 6500 children have died of encephalitis in the region since the 1st case was detected in 1978. The disease occurs regularly during the monsoon in Gorakhpur and adjoining districts which border Nepal in the foothills of the Himalayas. The low-lying areas are prone to floods, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes which commonly transmit the virus. Doctors say affected patients come from 10-12 districts in the region, and are mostly rural poor. Until 2005, the majority of deaths were caused by Japanese encephalitis, caused by a mosquito-borne virus, doctors say. But in the past 6 years, children have been dying of other forms of viral encephalitis, the exact cause of which is unclear. The diseases cause headaches and vomiting and can lead to coma, brain dysfunctions, seizures, and inflammation of the heart and kidneys. Doctors say children between the ages of 6 months to 15 years are the worst affected. A fifth of the children who survive have to live with neurological weaknesses, doctors say. The government says it has tried to check the regular outbreak of the encephalitis in the region. The encephalitis outbreak in Gorakhpur has attracted national and international attention — scientists from the US-based Centers for Disease Control visited the area in 2009, and took away medical samples to examine the virus.  In 2005, a virulent outbreak of Japanese encephalitis [virus infections] in Gorakhpur killed 1000 people, mostly children. This was the worst outbreak since 1978.

Commentary: It’s a shame that even after decades of children dying so close to the National Capital, we still do not know even the cause of this deadly disease, let alone how to try to treat it.