Bihar govt wakes up to deadly disease killing its children

After the death of 127 children from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar in the last three weeks, the state government has finally woken up to the dismal situation.

Delay on the part of the state government to identify the disease in time as AES and lack of awareness about the fatal symptoms have created havoc in the worst-affected districts of Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Vaishali.

Ironically, till two days ago, top health officials and Bihar Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey had blamed heat stroke and malnutrition as the reasons behind the children's deaths. They claimed that over 50 children had died when, in reality, many more from impoverished families had fallen prey to the disease.

After hue and cry by the Opposition, Choubey on Monday evening finally admitted that over 100 children had died of AES. In most cases, the patients were brought to the hospital at a very late stage, after their parents had tried local quacks and other measures to treat them.

Principal Health Secretary Vayasji on Wednesday said the health department has constituted teams of doctors in the six most affected districts to identify patients for treatment.

"All medical college and hospitals have been directed to provide free medicines to patients showing symptoms of AES," he said.

According to him, control rooms will be set up at civil surgeon level in hospitals and medical colleges.

"Free medication will be provided to patients in rural areas," Vayasji said.

A task force of experts has also been formed to advise the government on how to tackle AES. "We have decided to term AES as brain fever for common people so that it is easy for them to understand it," Vayasji said.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 each through the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the kin of children who had died from AES.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has requested the health secretary to send a central team to the state and to develop a state-of-the-art virology laboratory.

"We expected the central government's help to check and control the disease," he said.

The government has sought regular supply of adequate vaccines to carry out mass vaccination in affected districts. "We have decided against declaring AES as an epidemic," he said.

But a health official informed that Bihar lacks the facility to perform tests to confirm cases of AES.

Last year, encephalitis, a mosquito-borne disease, had claimed nearly 150 lives in Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts.

A doctor in Muzaffarpur, one of the worst affected districts, said that precious little had been done to shield children of encephalitis-prone villages in the district over the past one year.

Experts' tips to prevent the disease -- maintaining cleanliness, proper hydration, prevention from exposure to sun and better nutrition -- have not reached the communities from where the disease is mostly reported, due to lack of awareness drives.

The state government's plans to distribute mosquito nets in the affected areas, carry out cleanliness drives and provide nutritional support to malnourished children have mostly remained confined to files.