Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said his government was committed to preventing deaths of children due to outbreak of inflammatory brain diseases - Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE).
 

"No child should die of AES or JE. We are strengthening health systems to increase treatment capacities and offer the highest quality of care, but equally important is creating awareness for prevention, control and timely detection of AES cases," he said. Launching a campaign to raise awareness about AES here, the chief minister said 38 of the 75 districts in the state are the worst hit and officials have been asked to make all necessary preparations for dealing with it well in time.

"Vaccination should be completed by March-April and special emphasis should be on sanitation and cleanliness drive in villages by creating awareness among people. Help of educational institutes and self-help organisations should also be taken for this," he said. Encephalitis is a deadly vector-borne disease which claims hundreds of lives in the state every year.

According to a report by the Directorate of National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP), 26,686 cases of encephalitis were reported in Uttar Pradesh between 2010 and August 2017. Of these, 24,668 cases were of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and 2,018 of Japanese Encephalitis (JE). While 4,093 died of AES during the period, 308 JE deaths were registered in the state.

AES is an umbrella term for all symptoms which cause inflammatory brain diseases. They could be caused by bacteria, fungi or virus of different strains which are difficult to identify individually. In India, the most common pathogen for encephalitis is the JE virus, which accounts for a quarter of the cases. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Medical Health Siddharth Nath Singh said, "The health department is launching an unprecedented campaign in AES-affected districts and will knock at every door to build awareness about it."

According to reports, eastern Uttar Pradesh accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the total AES cases across the country, with the majority of cases being reported from Gorakhpur and Basti divisions. Children are particularly vulnerable to it, with 85 per cent of the reported cases occurring to those under the age of 10.