AES assumes alarming proportions in Gaya

Gaya: Early onset of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and alarmingly high death rate due to the disease in the district has worried health officials. Normally, AES cases are reported towards the end of monsoon. This year, it began in June itself, negating the established pattern. The high mortality rate of AES patients in Gaya as compared to the state average also defies explanation.
Till August 7, the average death rate for AES patients in the state was about 35%. As per data made available by the State Health Society of Bihar, till Sunday, 131 AES cases were reported throughout the state. Of these, 55 or 40% cases were reported in Gaya alone.
In terms of mortality rate too, Gaya figures are alarming. Of the 131 AES patients throughout the state, 46 died. In percentage terms, the state level average AES mortality is about 35%. In Gaya, the mortality rate is much higher. Nearly 50% of the AES patients in the district did not respond to treatment and breathed their last in the hospital. Of the 55 AES patients in Gaya, 27 have died till date.
According to activist S B Bhaskar, the official figures do not represent the true picture. “The figures only refer to hospitalised patients. The reality is that many AES patients die either on account of no treatment or wrong treatment by quacks and faith healers,” said Bhaskar.
All these issues were discussed at a daylong division level workshop jointly organised by the Unicef and state health department on Monday. Besides specialists, district officials from the five districts of Magadh division also participated in the workshop.
Gaya DM Kumar Ravi said the precise cause of high incidence and mortality was being ascertained.