Diarrhoea Kills One Lakh Children in India Annually: Report
Bangalore: In India more than one lakh children, below the age of 11 months die due to diarrhea annually, said a study published in the latest edition of the British medical journal The Lancet. It was found that rotavirus is responsible for most such cases in young children.
The Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) reveals diarrhoeal disease, which is responsible for one in every ten child deaths during the first five years of life globally, has the highest rate of incidence in India compared to other places, reported Durgesh Nandan Jha for TNN. The study was conducted at seven sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in Asia and Kenya, Mali, Mozambique and Gambia in Africa.
A research scientist was quoted by TNN, saying, "GEMS data reveals important information that can inform evidence-based diarrhoeal disease prevention and control strategies in our country. Rapidly expanding accesses to existing tools, such as oral rehydration salts against the top disease-causing pathogens is essential. In particular, access to rotavirus vaccines is critical to controlling the burden of moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) in India, given the exceptionally high incidence of rotavirus-induced MSD across all age groups."
Dr Dipika Sur, principal investigator, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, was of the opinion that among infants, the burden of diarrhoeal deaths in India was twice that of the next highest site.
The WHO estimates that 90,000 to 153,000 children die from rotavirus infection in India every year. It further said around 334,000 children below five years of age die in India from diarrhoea-related diseases.
In this grim situation the good news is that Indian scientists from Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad have developed a new oral vaccine against the Rota virus that can prevent children from a type of diarrhoea.
Also Read: Over 3, 00,000 Newborns Die within 24 Hrs in India Every Year
