With 45 deaths due to encephalitis reported in the districts of north Bengal, the West Bengal government on Saturday issued a red alert in seven districts of the region.
State Minister for North Bengal Development Gautam Deb told journalist at Siliguri that a fever clinic would be set up in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and experts will collect samples from patients there. A high-level meeting will be held at Uttar Kanya, the extension of the Secretariat in north Bengal, on July 21 to assess the situation.
“With the death of one more person due to Japanese Encephalitis in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) on Saturday, the death toll has reached 45 in north Bengal,” NBMCH superintendent Amarendranath Sarkar told The Hindu .
The deaths have occurred over the past three weeks.
Dr. Sarkar also said that of the 200 patients who underwent tests so far 49 were diagnosed with Japanese Encephalitis and the rest showed acute encephalitis syndrome.
According to doctors, Japanese Encephalitis claimed thirteen deaths, acute encephalitis syndrome the rest. At present, 36 patients are undergoing treatment in NBMCH.
Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral disease, birds living near water bodies and pigs are its vectors. A person is diagnosed with encephalitis when the encephalitis virus is detected in the body; if the virus is not detected, it is termed as acute encephalitis syndrome.
With the State government issuing alert, health officials are going door to door collecting samples. Jaganath Sarkar the Chief Medical officer of Health (CMOH) told The Hindu that health workers were also visiting remote areas to collect blood samples.
Most of the patients admitted to NBMCH are from Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Cooch Behar districts. Some are also from Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts.
