Japanese Encephalitis toll climbs to 536

Gorakhpur, Dec 20 (UNI) The vector-borne Japanese Encephalitis (JE) claimed the life of one more person in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 536 in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Last year, JE had killed almost 1,000 people in UP, while the scourage has accounted for thousands of lives in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region over the last decade.

Official sources said, 2,772 JE patients had reported at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and other district hospitals in the division, of which 536, including 63 from Bihar and five from Nepal had died.

Normally, the mosquito menace is maximum from June to September, however, this year the toll continues to rise even in December.

In the last 48 hrs, five fresh JE cases had come to light, while 50 JE patients were still convalescing at various hospitals.

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

Gorakhpur has the dubious distiction of being the JE epicentre in the region.

The endemic afflicts eastern UP during monsoon every year and continues to take people under its jaws till the onset of winters.

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

UNI