There is still no letup in the death of children due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Malkangiri district. The disease on Sunday claimed two more lives in the district, taking the death toll due to the vector-borne killer disease to 108 in 66 days.
The day’s deceased children, both girls, were identified as lina Madkami (3) of Kataguda under Padia block and lagna Madkami (2) of Urmaguda under Korukonda block.
Both died while undergoing treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH).
Meanwhile, the district administration has decided to undertake a vaccination drive against the disease after conducting a three-day door-to-door survey on November 20, 21 and 22.
A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting chaired by district Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy.
The vaccination is scheduled to begin from December 1. “Encephalitis vaccination will begin from 8 am till 3 pm in which teachers, Anganwadi and ASHA workers will be engaged. Encephalitis vaccine will be given to the children of 1-15 age group,” said the Collector.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with BJP State president Basant Panda and BJP legislature party leader KV Singh Deo is scheduled to visit the disease-affected areas of the district on Monday to take stock of the situation. The five-member team would visit Dariguda and Kalkunda villages, which are most affected by the JE virus and hold talks with the locals. Besides, the team would visit the Malkangiri DHH to assess the healthcare situation followed by discussion with elders of the locality.
later, the team would submit its report to the Union Health Minister JP Nadda and party national president Amit Shah.