BELLARY: Around 84.5 per cent of the 7.20 lakh children between the age group of 1 to 15 were covered under the special drive against Japanese Encephalitis (JE) (brain fever) in Bellary district.

Bellary, which had high incidence of the disease, was among the eleven districts in the country and the only one in the State to be selected for launching the special drive on a pilot basis by the Union Ministry of Health.

A special vaccine, SA 14-14-2, to prevent the disease was imported from China and was injected to children for a period of ten days across the district. The deadly disease is caused by a particular mosquito, "culex vaishnoi". Children up to the age of 15 are susceptible to the disease. The mortality rate is around 33 per cent and an equal number of children affected by the disease become handicapped. Giving details on the drive, Arvind Srivastav, Deputy Commissioner, said 7.20 lakh children were to be given the vaccination. Owing to shortage of staff, despite drawing from the neighbouring districts and the targeted group suffering from fever, around 6.08 lakh children were vaccinated. About the death of two children after being vaccinated, he said the blood samples were collected and sent to Pune for investigation. According to him, one of the children was bitten by a dog and there had been delay in seeking medical help. In all, 157 cases of side-effects were reported and they were all tackled effectively, he said.

Regular programme

Mr. Srivastav said around 90,000 vials of stock were available and the anti-JE programme would be included under the regular immunisation programme to be held every Thursday. He said the injections would be given to children at all government hospitals and Primary Health Centres in the district until the stock lasted and appealed to parents to get their children vaccinated.

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