Japanese Encephalitis toll at 145

Gorakhpur, Sep 11 (UNI) The deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll in Uttar Pradesh has reached 145 following the death of five children today.

This year, a total of 854 people, mostly children, sufferring from JE have been admitted at the medical college, of which 112 -- including 32 fresh cases -- are still under treatment.

Joint director, Health, Dr Umakant Prasad said here the inflow of patients was continuing at Baba Raghav Das Medical College.

The patients hail from Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Kushinagar, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda and Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Gorakhpur has the distiction of being the JE epicentre in the region. The endemic afflicts eastern party of the State during monsoon every year.

The government had undertaken a massive vaccination drive against the vector-borne disease. However, the efficacy and penetration of the drive has come under cloud with the mounting toll.

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