Guwahati: Japanese Encephalitis has claimed the lives of at least 11 people in Assam since the outbreak of the vector-borne disease earlier this year.
Another 254 people have been infected with the disease across the state with several patients still undergoing treatment in different hospitals.
The Assam government has directed the state health department to leave no stone unturned to prevent spread of the disease. All the government hospitals have been directed to provide free treatment to the patients infected with the disease.
Moreover, the state government has provided financial aid of Rupees one lakh to each patient undergoing treatment at private hospitals.
At least 442 people have died of Japanese Encephalitis in Assam between 2018 and 2022.
While 94 people had lost their lives due to the disease in 2018, 161 people died in 2019, followed by 51 in 2020, 40 in 2021 and 96 in 2022.
Altogether, 2145 cases of Japanese Encephalitis were detected in the state over the past five years.
Awareness campaigns on the disease are being conducted among the rural population of the state while the state health department has been carrying out massive fogging operations in all the affected areas across the state.
Japanese Encephalitis Virus is the most important cause of viral encephalitis in Asia. 24 countries in South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions have Japanese Encephalitis transmission risk, which includes more than three billion people.
In most temperate areas of Asia, the disease is transmitted mainly during the warm season, when large epidemics occur.
There is no antiviral treatment for patients infected with the disease. Treatment is supportive to relieve symptoms and stabilize the patient.
However, safe and effective Japanese Encephalitis vaccines are available to prevent the disease.