Japanese encephalitis
SHILLONG: When Japanese encephalitis continues wreak havoc in seven North Bengal districts and some parts of Assam, seven people in the state have been tested positive for the dreaded disease.
Confirming this, Health and Family Welfare Minister AL Hek on Monday said that he had personally instructed his department to take all necessary measures to ensure that this mosquito-borne disease is prevented from spreading.
Among those tested positive, three are from Ri-Bhoi district’s Nongpoh, Mawhati and Umtham villages, two from Mawlai and Sohiong villages (East Khasi Hills) and one each from West Khasi Hills district (Nongkhlaw) and Jaintia Hills district (Ummulong).
Six patients are admitted to the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and one person is undergoing treatment at the Shillong Civil Hospital
It is learnt that four test kits for Japanese encephalitis have been procured from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology and two of these kits are kept in the state capital and another two have been sent to Tura. Each kit has the capacity of testing 96 samples, sources said.
Pigs and wild migratory birds are the main carriers of the virus and the dead end are human and horses and deaths could take place if symptomatic treatment is delayed.
PTI adds from New Delhi: The Centre on Monday stressed on universal immunisation to fight encephalitis which has claimed 700 lives during the year in four states including Assam and West Bengal. “MPs should mobilise people (in their constituencies) to ensure universal immunisation of children and even adults to combat encephalitis,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said while replying to a discussion on the issue in the Lok Sabha.
The disease has claimed 208 lives in West Bengal, 197 in Assam, 159 in Bihar and 123 in Uttar Pradesh so far this year, he said, seeking cooperation of MPs, NGOs, corporates and religious organisations to make sure that “whatever (disease) can be prevented should be prevented at all cost.”
