India: Nearly 400 cases die from encephalitis

Since the beginning of the year, India has had nearly 400 deaths due to encephalitis. The deaths occurred mainly in Uttar Pradesh state and surrounding areas.

Children are vulnerable to Japanese encephalitis ( Photo: AP)

According to Indian authorities, this figure is lower than in 2005 - the year when nearly 1,600 children died from the disease, thanks to a large-scale vaccination campaign for nearly 10 million children.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is often spread through mosquito bites, which can kill or damage the brain and cause paralysis. In Uttar Pradesh state there are currently no Japanese encephalitis virus laboratories, so to determine the disease, the health sector must send patient samples to the National Virus Institute in Maharashtra state.

The Uttar Pradesh state government was heavily criticized for its inadequate control of Japanese encephalitis in 2005.

Annual floods plus waterlogging are the main causes of increasing population of mosquitoes in Uttar Pradesh, contributing to rapid spread of encephalitis. Deforestation and the expansion of sugarcane farms also exacerbate this situation.

T.VY