Photo Courtesy: nenews
Guwahati: Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome killed 60 people in Assam since the start of the year. National Health Mission data shows 15 deaths linked to Japanese Encephalitis and 45 tied to the syndrome. Cases are climbing. Officials identified 56 confirmed infections of Japanese Encephalitis and nearly 500 cases of the broader syndrome across multiple districts.
Executive Director Abhijit Sarma said the government began emergency planning in February to handle the seasonal spike. They trained medical officers and stocked medicine. Sarma noted that the diseases differ despite the overlap in symptoms. "AES and JE are two different clinical entities. While JE is one of the causes of AES, not all AES cases are JE cases," he explained.
The state continues to expand vaccination coverage and strengthen hospital referral systems. These efforts aim to manage the outbreak as it moves toward the peak season between June and August. Sarma confirmed that his department implemented "multiple initiatives to strengthen surveillance, case management, hospital preparedness, vaccination activities and inter-departmental coordination across the state."
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