Gorakhpur tragedy: Only 4 in 10 kids get vaccine protection against encephalitis

mmunisation is the only way to control JE encephalitis in highly endemic areas like Gorakhpur,

Health workers are improperly trained, and no more than four in 10 of Gorakhpur’s children have received adequate vaccine protection for Japanese encephalitis (JE)–the viral brain infection implicated for the death of many of over 70 children in Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical (BRD) Medical College hospital, which is a “mediocre” institution serving an area particularly vulnerable to JE.

These are the conclusions of Milind Gore, 62, a former scientist from India’s premier virus-research establishment, the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Gore moved from Pune to Gorakhpur in 2008–two years after the government launched the first immunisation drive