Japanese Encephalitis claims 3 more, toll at 513

Gorakhpur, Dec 5 (UNI) The killer vector-borne menace, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), continued to target children in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll mounting to a staggering 513, following three more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Since January, 2,693 JE patients had been admitted at the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and other hospitals of the division, of which 513, including 60 people of Bihar and four Nepalis, succumbed.

Almost 81 patients -- including ten fresh cases -- are still recuperating.

The JE patients trickle from Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Kushinagar, Ballia, Gonda, Bahraich, Mau, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda and Balrampur districts of UP.

Gorakhpur has the dubious distiction of being the JE epicentre in the region. The endemic afflicts eastern UP during monsoon every year. Last year, the killer disease had taken almost 1,000 people under its jaws.

The government undertakes a massive vaccination drive against the vector-borne disease every year, however, the efficacy and penetration of the drive comes under cloud with the mounting toll.

UNI