Japanese Encephalitis toll at 83

Gorakhpur, Aug 24 (UNI) The vector-borne Japanese Encephalitis (JE) continued to kill children in Eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll reaching 83 today, following three more deaths in the last 24 hrs.

The scourage has already killed several thousands of people in the region over the last decade.

Last year, the deadly JE had killed almost 1,000 people in UP alone. Uttar Pradesh Medical and Family Welfare joint director Dr L P Rawat told UNI that so far, 495 JE patients had come to the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 83 including 6 from Bihar had died.

Almost 85 patients were still convalescing in hospital.

JE patients mostly trickle from Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Kushinagar, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda, Bahraich, Mau, Ballia 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 and continues to take people under its jaws till the onset of winters.

UNI