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Patna/Lucknow: Acute
encephalitis syndrome (AES), the deadly mosquito-borne disease
that has hit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two of India's most
populated states, is spreading.
More deaths of AES patients, mostly children from poor families,
from the states have been reported and the outbreak of the ailment
seems far from being contained.
With nine more children dying of AES in Bihar's Gaya, Muzaffarpur
and Patna districts, according to officials Saturday, the toll has
risen to a shocking 159 in just three weeks.
"Fresh AES cases have been reported from all 10 affected
districts," a state health department official said.
In Uttar Pradesh, 88 people have succumbed to various strains of
AES in the last two weeks, prompting the state government to press
the panic button.
Most of the cases have come from the eastern district of Gorakhpur,
near Bihar.
In Bihar, as many as 409 children have been detected with AES and
of them, 159 have died and 82 admitted to hospitals, said
Additional Secretary (Health) R.P. Ojha. The rest have been
discharged, he said.
The worst affected districts include Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur,
Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Vaishali.
Health officials say AES has killed lives of 100 children in
Muzaffarpur alone.
Alarmed, Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey has asked the
striking junior doctors of the Patna Medical College Hospital to
resume work.
A team from New Delhi is now in Muzaffarpur, around 75 km from
Patna, to help contain the fatal viral disease.
"All medical colleges and hospitals have been directed to provide
free medicines to patients having AES symptoms," said Health
Secretary Vayasji.
However, Bihar is yet to declare AES an epidemic.
In Uttar Pradesh, health officials say that till June 10, 467
cases of AES came to primary health centres, hospitals and the BRD
Medical College in Gorakhpur.
Director General of Medical Health Ram Ji Lal said: "The disease
has begun spreading a little early this time round, but we are
ready to take on it."
The disease, which killed more than 600 people last season, is
peaking in areas around Gorakhpur, officials say.
Lal said the maximum number of deaths have been reported from
Gorakhpur followed by Kushinagar, Deoria and Maharajganj.
However, no infection of Japanese encephalitis, a virulent strain,
has been reported, said health officials.
But they caution that this did not mean that the disease had been
contained.
"We are keeping our fingers crossed and doing our best to prevent
the epidemic-like situation as last year," an official told IANS.
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