With concerted efforts, UP has checked AES/JE cases: Govt

Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said encephalitis will be rooted out within three years and the state would be declared encephalitis-free.

Uttar Pradesh has managed to tackle the scourge of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) that has earlier killed hundreds of children in the districts of east UP and Terai region, officials said.

In 2016, AES afflicted 3,911 children and 641 out of them died; the next year 4,724 children were in the grip of the disease and 655 died; in 2018, 3,077 children were afflicted with AES and 248 died. In 2019 till August, a lesser number --890 – of children were afflicted with AES and 30 died. (AP Photo)

In 2016, AES afflicted 3,911 children and 641 out of them died; the next year 4,724 children were in the grip of the disease and 655 died; in 2018, 3,077 children were afflicted with AES and 248 died. In 2019 till August, a lesser number --890 – of children were afflicted with AES and 30 died. The number of JE cases too has also come down from 442 in 2016 to 55 in 2019, the officials said.

Concerted efforts have been made to check spread of AES/JE, protect vulnerable children and provide rapid treatment to patients, they said. On Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said encephalitis will be rooted out within three years and UP will be declared encephalitis-free state.

Government departments, including urban development, health, education, women and child development, rural development and panchayati raj had came together to launch an awareness programme on clean drinking water, vaccination and sanitation, he said.

Launching the National Nutrition Mission programme on Friday, the chief minister directed the officers to follow the inter-department coordination formula adopted by health department to check AES/JE, for the battle against malnutrition as well, Chaturvedi said.

A health department officer said, to provide quality and quick treatment to patients, the department had established 104 encephalitis centres (ETC) from block level to district level in the districts. To identify that patients were in the grip of AES/JE, the health department established 19 sentinel surveillance laboratories across the state and a laboratory has been established in health directorate as well, he said.

Earlier, patients were rushed to BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur and several of them died on the way and many others were put on the wait list for admission. To divert pressure from the medical college, the department decided to provide facilities in the nearest hospitals, he said.

A pediatric ward of 10-15 beds was set up in district hospitals, 3-bed intensive care units (ICU) and Neonatal Care Units (NICU) were set up in CHCs. Ten Pediatrics Intensive Care Units (PICU) in 9 districts and mini-PICU have been established in seven districts located in Gorakhpur and Basti divisions. The intensive care units have 172 beds equipped with ventilators and latest medical equipment and facilities, he said.

The ‘Dastak’ campaign launched in April 2018 played an important role in containing the disease. Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers visited houses to make the people aware of the disease. They also shared their mobile numbers for case of emergency, he said.

The ‘fever tracking’ programme launched by the department also paid dividend. The monitoring of patients with at Encephalitis Treatment Centres (ETC) checked the death rates. Along with organizing sanitation campaigns, the department organised awareness campaigns urging people to remove stagnant water around their houses, the officer said.

Also, the field units of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) and SGPGI Lucknow, and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune organized special testing at BRD Medical College to identify the factors responsible for the disease, he added.