Mediaboss Marketing

In Gorakhpur, small successes in understanding and conquering the killer disease of children are undercut by a wily virus and administrative bottlenecks

On August 18, five-year-old Vishal spent the evening playing with friends in Vanjhai village in Gorakhpur district's Bhathat block. He came home irritable, with a slight fever. His mother and grandmother gave him a little milk and sent him to bed. They were not worried, because Vishal, like most children in the village, was "protected". What's ailing the Bihar's children?

Three years ago, Vishal had been given two shots, separated by four months, of "jhatki teeka", or the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine. The first shot, given in August 2010, was part of the child's immunization schedule; the second, in December of that year, in a massive campaign across Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar, to ensure the vaccine reached all "left out" children. 1,600 children dead in UP, Bihar; no answers yet

Vishal's mother, who had seen children dying in their village during the monsoon deaths long attributed to the dreaded JE virus was assured that her son was protected.

So, when Vishal woke up the next morning with a jhatki convulsions with a yellowish frothing at the mouth, fists clenched and eyes shut tight, seemingly unable to hear his mother's cries the family went to the local fakir, hoping he would rid the boy of the spirits they believed had attacked him.

A day later, when Vishal was struck by another convulsion, his uncle took him on his motorcycle 15 km away to Gorakhpur town, ignoring the women's protests that he already had "jaadui" protection and needed no more medicines. The boy was admitted to the Nehru Hospital in BRD Medical College, where he died the next day.

... contd.

TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

Read the original post:
Children deaths in Gorakhpur: A dissolving faith, an enduring mystery