5 Girls Detected with Japanese Encephalitis in Balasore

Balasore: Five girls were detected to be suffering from Japanese Encephalitis or brain fever in Balasore district. These new cases are also inmates of the privately managed Purubai Kanyashram Hostel in Soro.

As per reports, on Saturday evening, a Class 10 student of the hostel with symptoms of Japanese Encephalitis passed away at Balasore district headquarters hospital.  As her samples were not tested, this killer disease could not be confirmed as the reason for her death.

Till now 24 girls have been hospitalized with similar symptoms that hint at Japanese Encephalitis infection. Eight are admitted at Fakir Mohan Medical College in Balasore and 16 are being treated at the Soro Community Health Centre. According to Balasore health authorities, even though samples of only five girls have been tested positive for Japanese Encephalitis, all others are also under close watch.

All these girls were admitted to the hospital last week when they developed fever, headache, and vomiting. A total of 29 samples were sent for testing to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack of which five tested positive.

The Odisha Health Department has sent a team of entomologists to ascertain the reasons behind the Japanese Encephalitis outbreak in the Balasore district. The virus that causes Japanese Encephalitis breeds in pigs and is spread through mosquito bites. But there is no piggery near the hostel where the girls were staying.

In October-November 2016, more than 100 children between the age group of four months to 13 years succumbed to Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in the tribal-dominated Malkangiri district of the state.