Centre set to roll out new treatment for encephalitis: 

Centre set to roll out new treatment for encephalitis: 

Context

• The Centre is looking to introduce a new drug, conventionally used for acne, to deal with the seasonal outbreaks of acute encephalitis.

Reason of the research

• The research is conducted weeks after several children died of encephalitis-related complications at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, Gorakhpur.
• Last year the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the drug did not appear potent enough to merit being immediately rolled out as a standard treatment for treating patients afflicted with the Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus.

History of research to cure JE

• In 2008, researchers at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar found that minocycline, an antibiotic typically used to treat severe acne surprisingly seemed to cure rats infected with the JE virus.
• Independent teams of doctors and researchers between 2008 and 2013 have conducted trials on patients and have concluded, that minocycline worked well on patients with AES symptoms, who survived the first day of hospitalization.
• According to the studies the drug did not measurably protect patients beyond three months.
• The studies included a trial on 50 patients, time at the BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur itself on the use of minocycline, in specific cases of JE.
• The researchers found that using the medicine reduced hospital stay but didn’t significantly improve overall mortality.

The failure of the research

• The ICMR said last year that the trials showed that the number of patients who seemed to benefit wasn’t “statistically significant”.
• A larger, more systematic trial at multiple locations was needed to establish the efficacy of the drug.