NEW DELHI: The health ministry ’s flagship immunization drive against Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome seems to be yielding results. For the first time, mortality and morbidity of both JE and AES have gone down.

According to government data, 985 cases and 210 deaths due to JE were reported till September. In the corresponding period in 2014, there were 1,089 cases and 211 deaths from the disease.

Significant progress has also been observed in controlling cases and deaths from AES, especially in endemic areas. In Uttar Pradesh, AES cases dropped from 3,329 in 2014 to 1,291 so far this year. Similarly, Bihar witnessed drastic improvement with merely 145 AES cases reported in 2015 compared to 1,358 in 2014.

Even the number of deaths due to AES have declined from 627 in 2014 to 174 this year in Uttar Pradesh. In Bihar, mortality from AES decreased from 355 in 2014 to 53 in 2015.

Japanese Encephalitis is caused by a mosquito-borne virus. Since the virus attacks the brain of the child, the chances of the child becoming mentally retarded are high. Eastern India is the most-endemic region, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam. However, the disease burden is high in 171 districts spread across 19 states.

The NDA government has intensified measures against Japanese Encephalitis. While previous health minister Harsh Vardhan had emphasized the need for 100% immunization immediately after assuming office, his successor J P Nadda made rigorous efforts to expand vaccine coverage to fight the disease burden. Nadda also visited some districts of UP and Bihar to monitor the situation and implementation of the national immunization programme with focus on elimination of JE and AES.

While India was facing trouble in importing JE vaccine from China, the government took proactive measures including a high level delegation meeting with Chinese officials to resolve the issue at the earliest.

To further prevent the spread of the diseases, the government is planning to introduce adult JE vaccine from November. The ministry has identified seven districts of UP to initially launch adult JE vaccine.