JE claims 408 lives in UP

Gorakhpur, Dec 30 (UNI) The vector-borne Japanese Encephalitis (JE) disease continued to kill children in Eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll mounting to 408, following one more death today.

Joint director health Dr Umakant Prasad said 1,961 people suffering from the killer JE had been admitted at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here. Five people are still under treatment.

The JE patients are trickling from Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Kushinagar, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda and Balrampur districts of UP.

At least 224 cases pertain to Bihar, while Nepal accounts for 9 JE cases reported so far.

Gorakhpur has the dubious distiction of being the JE epicentre in the region. The endemic afflicts Eastern UP 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.

UNI ATI SSC HT1923