10 dead, 134 Infected as Japanese Encephalitis Spreads to New Areas in Assam
Guwahati: The spread of Japanese encephalitis to the western and lower Assem regions has become a concern for health officials who said that the state has recorded the death of 10 due to Japanese encephalitis so far and that approximately 134 people have been affected.
Stating that previous JE epidemics were more common in the upper Assam regions, the situation in the traditional JE arches has developed due to the active steps taken by the health department, the National Health Mission Assam Manoj Choudlyy said that the disease has spread to new areas in the lower Assam, which is a concern for the health department.
He said that the state health department was a close surveillance on the situation because the outbreaks from different regions of the state were reported, and that the situation was under control.
The worst affected areas were Nalbari, Barpeta, Jorhat and Darrang, and said that the mortality rate in these two years was much better than the last few years.
Mr. Choudly, the disease passed through mosquito bites, he said. If mosquitoes bite cattle animals such as cows and pigs and bite people soon, there is a possibility that they are infected with the disease. He said that some people keep cows and pigs very close to household peoples and such people were vulnerable to the disease.
Health Mission Director, the disease began to break the start of May and until August, he said. In general, the rain starts with the start of the season and ends when the rain season is finished. In the case of high fever, he argued that people should immediately consult a doctor to assess whether there was a normal fever or that they were caused by Japanese encephalitis.
In severe cases, the disease affects the brain and the patient becomes unconscious. However, in most cases, infected people heal on their own. “But no one should get chance and should not report to doctors in case of high fever. JE’s test and treatment is free in any state hospital,” he said.
Even before the epidemic, he said that the potentially dangerous areas were foggy and that health workers visited the households and pointed out the importance of mosquito networks to keep the disease away. However, an important problem is that the chemicals used during fogging are washed during the rain season and a need for repeated fog.
