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Re: India Encephalitis 2012: 1,121 deaths - Outbreaks in Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal
No mass immunization in encephalitis-hit areas in last 2 yrs
Rukmini Shrinivasan, TNN | Oct 23, 2012, 02.20AM IST
GORAKHPUR: With 3,000 cases of encephalitis reported in eastern India so far this year, the bulk of future government efforts will be centred around prevention through better water and sanitation. In the interim, though, it is medical science that is at the forefront of the fight against encephalitis, but is unfortunately sorely compromised.
For one, the central government appears unable to make up its mind about how to go about administering the vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis. JE, which is a vector-borne disease that spreads primarily through mosquitoes, was before 2005 estimated to be the source of at least 40-50% of the region's encephalitis cases, says Dr K P Kushwaha, principal of the BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur, ground zero for the fight against the disease.
So in 2006, the central government conducted a mass vaccination drive, using a Chinese-made vaccine. "The proportion of JE in the total cases fell to 28% in 2006, 14% in 2007 and 18-19% in 2009-10," says Dr Kushwaha. In 2010, there was another round of mass immunization and the proportion of JE has further fallen. But there has been no further mass immunization in the last two years, something public health campaigners decry.
"The vial of the vaccine clearly says that three doses need to be administered 365 days apart," says Dr R N Singh, a Gorakhpur-based paediatrician, and a long-time campaigner for a stronger governmental response to the disease. "Even the WHO says that two doses need to be given. It is just unacceptable that the government hasn't taken up JE vaccination the way polio was taken up," he adds.
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No mass immunization in encephalitis-hit areas in last 2 yrs
Rukmini Shrinivasan, TNN | Oct 23, 2012, 02.20AM IST
GORAKHPUR: With 3,000 cases of encephalitis reported in eastern India so far this year, the bulk of future government efforts will be centred around prevention through better water and sanitation. In the interim, though, it is medical science that is at the forefront of the fight against encephalitis, but is unfortunately sorely compromised.
For one, the central government appears unable to make up its mind about how to go about administering the vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis. JE, which is a vector-borne disease that spreads primarily through mosquitoes, was before 2005 estimated to be the source of at least 40-50% of the region's encephalitis cases, says Dr K P Kushwaha, principal of the BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur, ground zero for the fight against the disease.
So in 2006, the central government conducted a mass vaccination drive, using a Chinese-made vaccine. "The proportion of JE in the total cases fell to 28% in 2006, 14% in 2007 and 18-19% in 2009-10," says Dr Kushwaha. In 2010, there was another round of mass immunization and the proportion of JE has further fallen. But there has been no further mass immunization in the last two years, something public health campaigners decry.
"The vial of the vaccine clearly says that three doses need to be administered 365 days apart," says Dr R N Singh, a Gorakhpur-based paediatrician, and a long-time campaigner for a stronger governmental response to the disease. "Even the WHO says that two doses need to be given. It is just unacceptable that the government hasn't taken up JE vaccination the way polio was taken up," he adds.
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