In Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur, 42 children die in last 48 hours

Nothing has changed at BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur where 42 children died in the last 48 hours, raising serious questions about the intention and capability of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in tackling this menace.

Earlier this month, 33 children had died in this hospital on August 10 and 11 because of lack of oxygen. The government claims the death was natural. Statements came from different quarters of the government, saying the Chief Minister was serious in controlling encephalitis. Even Union Health Minister JP Nadda said Gorakhpur hospital would get all financial help. And after all that, 42 children died in the last two days.

Gorakhpur happens to be the karmakshetra of Yogi Adityanath; he has represented this parliamentary constituency five times in a row. This question has started doing the rounds: If he cannot set his house in order, how will he govern UP?

Death of over 40 children in the last two days has set alarm bells ringing among parents but officials in Lucknow say it is normal. “Go to any hospital and children die, what's new in this,” said Amrish Saxena, a government official.

Experts say this year fatality from encephalitis is expected to be high because of excessive rains and flooding reported from eastern Uttar Pradesh, particularly the area in and around Gorakhapur. Water had entered many residential areas in Gorakhpur after 11 dams were washed away in this region.

“Any lay man can tell you that in view of flooding, the number of cases of vector-borne diseases are likely to go up. But what shocks me is that the administration has taken no preventive step. There is no attempt to prevent spread of communicative diseases,” Dr RN Singh, Convener of Encephalitis Eradication Programme, said.

He said it was a thumb rule in this area that more the rain, more the fatalities among children. The deaths are likely to go up further if administration does not wake up from its slumber, Dr Singh said.

Doctors say the latest deaths are caused by various ailments including encephalitis, health complexities in the infants, pneumonia and sepsis.

The BRD Medical College and Hospital has a 100-bed encephalitis ward where children from eastern Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar are admitted. The disease has been a serial killer for the last 36 years. The death rate, two to three years ago, used to range between 16 to 20 per cent but in the last couple of years it has taken a dangerous turn. The mortality rate rose to 29 per cent in 2013 and is above 30 per cent since 2014. The disease has so far killed several thousand children in the last three decades with 2005 being the worst in which over 1500 children had died drawing global attention.

There are two shades of encephalitis. One is Japanese encephalitis that is vector-borne and other is Acquired Encephalitis Syndrom (AES) which is water-borne and both spread fast with the onset of monsoon.

This year, starting from January 1 till August 28, at least 1254 children have died in different wards including encephalitis and neo-natal. The breakup shows 1075 deaths in the neo-natal ward and 179 in the encephalitis ward.