A doctor examines a suspected encephalitis patient at a private clinic in Muzaffarpur. Two children suffering from suspected encephalitis died at Kejriwal Maternity Clinic in Juran Chapra in the district late on Sunday evening. Picture by Gopi Raman

The fight against encephalitis in the district through mass immunisation of children up to 15 years of age is yet to start, as the Union health ministry has allegedly not provided the district administration with Japanese encephalitis vaccines.

According to health experts, if mass vaccination against encephalitis is to be carried out, it should be launched by the first week of June. Though Japanese encephalitis vaccination has been included in the routine immunisation programme, it would not be sufficient, the experts feel.

As part of the routine immunisation programme, children within the age group of 0-24 months are immunised. On the other hand, most children of the total 410 admitted to Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in 2011 were in the age group of 6-10 years. About 94 children out of the 410 admitted to ANMCH had died.

Gaya civil surgeon Dilip Kumar told The Telegraph: “We are awaiting the direction and guidelines from the Union health ministry regarding the vaccination drive. According to an estimate, around three lakh vials of Japanese encephalitis vaccine are required in Gaya alone to cover nearly 11 lakh children up to the age of 15 years.”

The population of children up to the age of 15 years is around one-third of the total population of Gaya district.

The mass vaccination should be started in the first week of June, as it will take at least a month to cover all the children in the district. “Once monsoon sets in, it will not be possible to effectively carry out the mass immunisation drive,” an expert said. Rejecting the plea, the civil surgeon said in Gaya, encephalitis outbreak has been reported normally in August. “Therefore, we have time to carry out the mass immunisation drive provided the vaccines are made available by the Union health ministry,” he said.

On an average, four doses can be prepared from one vial of the vaccine. The civil surgeon has sent a proposal to the state government for mass vaccination of children between age group of nine months to 15 years of age. In 2011, around 1.5 lakh children were immunised against Japanese encephalitis in Gaya.

An action plan for fighting encephalitis has been prepared in the district. According to the plan, training to all medical officers in-charge of all the 24 primary health centres, child development project officers and other doctors has been imparted. The medical officers in-charge and the child development project officers have also imparted training to the auxiliary nurse midwives and ASHAs (accredited social health activists).

A micro plan has been prepared too, which includes vaccination as well as fogging in vulnerable areas. Mostly Mahadalit tolas have been identified as the vulnerable areas for the outbreak of encephalitis, the civil surgeon said. However, sources said mass vaccination against Japanese encephalitis is not likely to become possible this year as monsoon is expected to break by June 15.