Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, upon his return from Muzaffarpur, has reviewed the situation arising from the reported cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and Japanese Encephalitis (AES/JE) in Bihar in a high level meeting which was attended by senior officers of the Health Ministry, ICMR, and AIIMS. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MOS(HFW) was also present at the meeting.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that five virological labs will be set up in different districts in the State.  The location of the district can be decided in consultation with the State Government and can be funded through National Health Mission (NHM), he stated.

“To establish the cause of the disease, there is urgent need for an inter disciplinary, high quality research team.  The research team shall work with the children suffering from AES/JE looking at various aspects including periodicity, cycle of disease, environmental factors and metrological data, besides other factors”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated.

Emphasising the need for early detection and treatment of hypoglycemia cases after nearly 100 children lost their lives to encephalitis in Bihar, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that a dedicated team of doctors should be placed in endemic primary health centres (PHCs) with required facilities at least for 3 to 4 months before and during onset of disease and they may be incentivised under NHM appropriately. As for present, the concerned primary and community health centres should take prompt corrective measures for hypoglycaemia at the facility itself to utilize the golden hour, he added.