Is Seasonal Wasting Responsible for the Rising Incidence of Acute Encephalitis Virus in Muzaffarpur Bihar, India

Anjali Bansal , International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Laxmi Kant Dwivedi, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Priyanka Dixit, TISS

Acute Encephalitis Virus (AEV) is defined as the onset of acute fever and change in the mental state of an individual of any age at any time of the year. Nearly 597,542,000 total cases of JE were reported in India till 2005 with an average incidence of 1500 to 4000 cases per year. The cases every year adds up to the death rate in India but still, the main cause is not identified. We have tried to find different pathways for the outbreak of disease using NFHS-4. From different pieces of literature and newspaper articles, we have concluded that the poor nutrition status of household and children are one of the important determinants of the outbreak of the disease in the country. The data suggests that the wasting in the month of heat waves (April to June) were found to be comparatively higher than other months, diarrhoea in the particular month can be attributed to the wasting, which makes the child more susceptible of acquiring the disease during the season. The government should take more initiatives to educate people about the importance of vaccination, clean and safe drinking water and the use of proper sanitation facility in their living area. The Anganwadi workers should educate mother about the importance of healthy food and regular monitor checks in the Anganwadi centres. Also, a strong surveillance system together should be implemented with a high-quality immunization program.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality