190 children dead in Uttar Pradesh from deadly virus

Lucknow -- Even as dengue hits the headlines, unsanitary conditions in the impoverished eastern region of Uttar Pradesh have led to another killer virus - Coxsackie-B - claiming the lives of nearly 190 children in the last six months.

The virus, spread through contaminated food and water, has claimed the lives of scores of children around Gorakhpur where nearly 1,400 children had died of a disease known as Japanese encephalitis last year.

"On an average, Coxsackie-B has been taking the life of at least one child every day," disclosed K.P. Kushwaha, professor in the department of paediatrics at the Gorakhpur Medical College.

As head of the institution's special encephalitis cell, Kushwaha was responsible for handling thousands of children affected by Japanese encephalitis (JE) in the region.

"Thanks to the large scale vaccination of about seven million children earlier this year, JE was nipped in the bud this time. However, we are busy tackling Coxsackie-B, which is nearly as dangerous - though not as fatal - as encephalitis," Kushwaha told IANS over telephone from Gorakhpur.

"It was timely action by the government that ensured ready availability of the JE vaccine," he added. His department remains the nodal centre for treatment of most water-borne and mosquito carried viruses that are a perennial feature in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The Coxsackie-B virus spreads through contaminated food or water, while JE is a mosquito-borne viral disease transmitted from pigs to human beings by mosquitoes. Coxsackie-B multiplies in the human digestive tract to take on different organs of the body.

The virus is named after Coxsackie, a town in New York state, where it was discovered.

"It could also sometimes lead to multi-organ failure," T.N. Dhole, professor of at the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute here, told IANS. Its symptoms are quite similar to those of JE.

According to Dhole, "Unlike JE, the spread of Coxsackie-B cannot be prevented by vaccination. The only way to keep this virus away is by ensuring good sanitation standards and maintaining supply of clean drinking water."

The state's principal health secretary Arun Kumar Misra said: "I believe civic authorities are taking adequate steps to ensure proper disinfection of water tanks and wells in the rural areas. Efforts are needed to promote health consciousness among the people."

At least four people have died so far of the mosquito-borne dengue in western Uttar Pradesh, bordering Delhi, and more than 70 are affected.