The outbreak of encephalitis in the Indian state of West Bengal has claimed more than 60 lives in less than two months, drawing India’s attention to its lack of a more aggressive approach to tackling this problem. Encephalitis outbreaks are a common occurrence in India, and every year, at least a 100 people, mostly children, die due to this infection. In October last year, more than 350 people in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a majority of them children, had died due to this outbreak. The cases up to 2005 were largely of Japanese encephalitis, but since then, new viral mutations of this infection have been detected, posing a greater challenge for the etiology and epidemiology of this disease.
Apart from researching these areas more, India also needs to devise policies for outbreak predictions, timely intervention and an improved health care network. The disarrayed state of the rural health care network in West Bengal is evidence of how much more needs to be done. The most important goal for India, however, is to step up its vaccination drives for children across the nation. This, along with hygiene campaigns in rural areas, awareness drives and provision for sufficient clean drinking water can go a long way in preventing such outbreaks in the future.