Fighting encephalitis

While the swine flu outbreak has been boosted by the flu season, another seasonal disease has hit Assam particularly hard this year

Assam has another serious health concern to tackle. More than 40 people have died and more than 100 have been affected in the last two months due to encephalitis. Worst hit are some of the districts in Upper Assam. Two types of the disease — Japanese encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), have been doing the rounds in the north-eastern state since July. The outbreak, most likely, is a result of stagnant rainwater, which allows the culex mosquito, the carrier of the disease to breed. JE, a major health problem in Assam, spreads through water bodies, and pigs are also said to be carriers. Fields are flooded with water for rice cultivation during the monsoon, which helps the disease to spread rapidly. In 2007 and 2008, in Assam, the disease caused more than 100 deaths each year.

Encephalitis is a viral illness causing acute inflammation and infection of the brain. The disease can vary from mild to life-threatening. While mild cases can recover fully, severe cases can result in permanent damage to the nervous system, if not death. Typically, the illness lasts two to three weeks and symptoms to watch out for are similar to those of flu: a fever, headache and weakness. They are classic indicators of encephalitis. Seizures are also common.

With the current outbreak, the focus is on proper diagnosis and treatment. This virus infects 50,000 people and causes 15,000 deaths every year, mostly across the Indian subcontinent, China and South-east Asia. Patients of encephalitis need to be monitored for brain swelling and hydrated with IV fluids regularly. Anti-convulsants are prescribed to control seizures. The treatment is mainly supportive: for feeding, breathing or to bring seizures under control, so the nature of assistance required differs from case to case.

More importantly, because Assam is troubled by regular outbreaks of encephalitis, the focus should be on preventive measures, specially during the monsoons. District administration officials are reported to have initiated preventive measures when the virus first started spreading in the early days and weeks of July. The numbers of deaths and cases infection, however, continue to rise.

The state government has now decided to launch an Assam-wide vaccination programme.

Is it too little, too late?