Re: India 2011: Encephalitis fatalities, Total 947
Re: India 2011: Encephalitis fatalities, Total 947
Pigs across city to be tested for Encephilitis
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, October 30, 2011 Email to Author
First Published: 23:00 IST(30/10/2011)
Last Updated: 23:02 IST(30/10/2011)
After the blood samples of slaughtered pigs from areas where cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) were reported, came out negative, the authorities will go in for wider sampling to detect the origin of the disease. Seven people, including two children, have tested positive for the disease so far and the JE infection has been detected in five people.
?It looks like it is a localised infection, but we have not yet been able to establish the missing link, which will be provided by pigs as they play host to the disease,? said a senior official from the state health department.
?Initially, we took samples of slaughtered pigs from the affected areas, but now we have directed local agencies to collect samples from across the city,? the official added.
?It?s not an easy task to collect samples of slaughtered pigs, as their slaughtering isn?t legal in Delhi. We are taking the help of the veterinary department to trace locations where pigs are slaughtered,? said Dr VK Monga, chairman, public health committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/India...-tested-for-Encephilitis/Article1-762950.aspx
Without rehab, life is a hell for encephalitis-hit children
Aarti Dhar
In Gorakhpur, thousands have become a burden on their poor families
Lack of rehabilitation facilities for thousands of children, disabled here after a Japanese encephalitis attack, has made life a burden for them. Already reeling under acute poverty, these children are now an economic burden on their families. The monthly allowance given by the Uttar Pradesh government to the disabled in 2005-06 was abruptly discontinued.
?Life is worse than hell for my 13-year-old son Satyendra. Death would have been easier for him as well as the family,? said Krishna Mohan of a remote village in Maharajganj district on the India-Nepal border. His son contracted Japanese encephalitis when he was just one-year-old and has been physically disabled since then.
Had there been a rehabilitation or therapy centre nearby, Satyendra could have improved and led a dignified life, feels Krishna Mohan, whose finances do not permit him to take the boy to a bigger town for treatment.
No equipment, staff
Not that Gorakhpur has any such facility. The Manovikas Kendra at the BRD Medical College Hospital, run by the Social Welfare Department, is virtually non-functional as it has no equipment and trained staff worth mentioning. Built by the Gorakhpur Development Authority and operated by the Orthopaedics department of the hospital, the Kendra claims to have an IQ Testing Unit and physiotherapy facilities but everyone knows it hardly opens, let alone functioning. Also, people do not wish to bring their children to the hospital every day.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2583191.ece
