Kejriwal Matri Sadan, sited in the heart of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, is exploding with fear, panic and chaos over a ‘mystery' disease – a disease that has claimed the lives 36 children in less than two weeks.
Screaming infants, convulsing in terrible pain, present a stark contrast to the smug, matter-of-fact versions of health officials in Patna.
With the death toll climbing, a Central team of doctors on Thursday finally termed the disease encephalitis, even as they awaited test results to confirm whether it was indeed Japanese encephalitis (JE) or caused by some other virus.
While the ‘mystery disease' has been claiming scores of lives annually across Bihar's Tirhut division, ground investigations by The Hindu in Muzaffarpur's afflicted blocks reveal a disturbing picture of neglect and apathy by the State government — one which recently launched, with much fanfare, an ambitious Health Card programme designed to ensure the well-being of children up to 14 years.
“It is not a mystery disease. One must presume it is Japanese encephalitis unless proven otherwise,” says, Dr. Arun Shah, a private practitioner in Muzaffarpur.
In 2006, the Government of India, in collaboration with the Programme for Appropriate Technology [in Health] (PATH) and the ChengDu Institute of Biological products in Sichuan, China, assented to the phased introduction of the JE vaccine in 101 risk areas of the country.
This was just after more than 1,500 people were killed in a massive JE outbreak in parts of Uttar Pradesh.
Despite the JE vaccine being introduced in Bihar since 2007, the drive does not seem to have much effect with significant lacunae in the State's awareness campaign.
Despite the JE vaccine being part of routine immunisation process for infants between 16-24 months, not one of the 20-odd children now admitted to the KMS had ever been given a preventive dose of the JE vaccine.
“We have not seen any block or district authorities turn up in the last decade... neither for vaccination, nor for any other immunisation purpose,” said Sukhdev Saini, a wage-labourer in Mushahari block, one of the most afflicted areas in the district.
The same is the case with Kalam, a weaver from Harpur village, who does not understand what a JE vaccine shot means.
The Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) has had a mere three cases in the last 24 hours, and the district Sadar hospital had none. The reason is that parents are not willing to admit their children to government hospitals.
“We have no alternative but to offer entirely supportive and symptomatic treatment to the suffering children,” said Dr. Rajeev Kumar, head paediatrician, KMS.
Ever since the clinic has announced free treatment, it has been flooded by desperate people carrying their afflicted children. Not one child has been immunised with the JE vaccine.
As against the target of 11,600 babies, the district's achievement has been a mere 5,000 in April and May, i.e. a bare coverage of 40 per cent. The figure was about the same for 2010, where 32,000 babies were said to have been immunised.
Dr. Shiv Shankar, district Immunisation Officer, puts it down to “lack of awareness among the populace,” besides other factors. According to him, the Sadar hospital had 19,947 vials of the JE vaccine lying in its refrigerated stock till date, with no supply taking place in 2009.
According to government records, more than 50 children succumbed to encephalitis last year, with 21 deaths reported from the KMS alone during a 19-day period in June.
Doctors also point out the quotidian process of sending blood samples and cerebro spinalfluid (CSF) to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, without any conclusive result for the last several years.
