There are separate national programmes to eliminate malaria and filaria. This despite the fact that both the diseases are caused by the same vector and can be easily covered under the national vector borne diseases control programme. Citing this example, health activists in eastern Uttar Pradesh reiterated their demand for a separate campaign to eliminate encephalitis.

An experimental vaccine provided 100% protection against the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in primates and mice, offering hope it will work for humans too, a new study found.

Patralekha Chatterjee

COPENHAGEN SHOWED how fast and far India has traveled geo-politically. The same, alas, cannot be said about the health of the nation. On the international stage, India's relentless focus on equity made us proud. The time has come to apply that principle at home.

A special campaign I will be launched to t create awareness about hygiene and sanitation
The government has announced that it will be setting up a special research group under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to study the spread of Japanese encephalitis in certain part of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

After the wastage of over 20 lakh doses of the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country in past two years, the China-based manufacturer has finally agreed to upgrade the vaccine vial monitors put on JE vaccine supplied to India.

Assuming almost epidemic proportions in southern Bihar, cerebral malaria has caused the death of 34 children in Gaya district in a month while 115 children are undergoing treatment for the disease at a hospital there.

FORTY-FOUR people died of Japanese encephalitis, a viral infection, at the Assam Medical College Hospital in Dibrugarh on July 28. The same day another 68 patients suffering from the viral disease were admitted to the hospital that receives patients from across the state. T R Borborah, principal of the medical college, confirmed the deaths. Health officials in Assam said the disease has

DIBRUGARH, Sept 8: Thirteen people have died of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in Dibrugarh district since January this year.
According to Chief Medical Officer of the Health Department, Dr DN Bangthai, 86 cases were reported in these months from six blocks of the district and 57 of them were confirmed cases of Japanese encephalitis. The death toll was 31 in 2008.

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: The dance of death continues in the eastern districts (Purvanchal region) of Uttar Pradesh. The dreaded acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) has so far killed 199. The victims are mostly children and people below the poverty line.

This comes at a time when the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) appears to have been contained by the SA-14-14-2 vaccine imported from China.

Guwahati: Assam is among the top five states that are highly prone to malaria and Japanese Encephalitis. According to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme records, 1,195 people in the state have died of the two diseases since 2005. Of them, 714 have died of malaria and 481 of Japanese Encephalitis. This year alone, Acute Encephalitic Syndrome has so far claimed 78 lives.