Japanese Encephalitis toll reaches 119

Gorakhpur, Sep 1 (UNI) The deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll in Uttar Pradesh has reached 119 with the death of two more children today.

Last year, JE had killed over 1,000 people, mostly children, in UP.

According to information received from the Joint Director (Health) office, the inflow of JE patients is continuing at the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here.

Since April, a total of 715 people -- including 22 fresh cases-- surferring from JE have been admitted at the Medical College, of which 127 are still undergoing treatment.

The patients hail from Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Kushinagar, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda and Balrampur distrticts of UP.

At least 96 cases pertain to the adjoining districts of Bihar.

Three patients are from Nepal.

The epidemic afflicts eastern UP during the monsoon every year.

Meanwhile, medical teams from Delhi and Pune have arrived in Gorakhpur to ascertain the JE virus strain, which is responsible for the deaths despite a comprehensive vaccination programme in UP earlier this year.

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