Bhopal: Japanese encephalitis alert as monsoon draws near

BHOPAL: After

three deaths

reported in the

city hospitals

in last the week due to

Japanese encephalitis virus

, the civic body has issued an alert identifying vulnerable areas and urging residents to remain cautious. All three patients, who died of Japanese encephalitis, were from nearby districts.


As per death records at Hamidia hospital, around 20 people died of viral encephalitis from January 1 this year. Of the 20 dead, 12 were women and five minors. Most of the deaths took place in March with eight people dying of viral encephalitis.

According to experts,

Japanese encephalitis

is a viral disease and the virus is generally spread by mosquitoes, pigs and wild birds.

BMC deputy commissioner Harshit Tiwari said, “We have issued alert in the city as three deaths were reported in the city. Though the deceased were not from the city, still we need to take preventive measures. We have launched an intensive check of the localities in the state capital and marked some areas as vulnerable. We have narrowed our focus to water coolers discarded after summer with water making it a breeding ground for vectors.” Some areas in Old and New Bhopal are vulnerable, he said. Tiwari said, “We have scheduled a meeting on June 20 with the health department and malaria team, where we will get a list of the black spots of the city, where probability of vectorborne disease risk is high.”

Recently, three people, including two kids — one each from Vidisha and Hoshangabad, died of Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) in Hamidia Hospital. Another patient of Ashoknagar, who was being treated in AIIMS, Bhopal, also died. Fourteen-year-old Rajani, who was a native of Puranpura village in Vidisha and three-year-old Rohit, a native of Gohikheda village in Hoshangabad, were referred to Hamidia Hospital after the test confirmed that their blood samples were Japanese encephalitis positive.

Last year, two kids one from Tilajamalpura and Saket Nagar were reported positive with the virus. They were treated and saved. Experts suggest prevention is avoiding mosquito bites. Once infected, there is no specific treatment with care being supportive. Severe disease is characterized by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and ultimately death. The case-fatality rate can be as high as 30% among those with disease symptoms.

The virus exists in a transmission cycle between mosquitoes, pigs and/or water birds. The disease is predominantly found in rural and periurban settings, where humans live in close proximity to vertebrate hosts. In India the disease spreads after summer and during the onset of monsoon.

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