Japanese Encephalitis claims 7 more, UP toll at 146

Gorakhpur, Sep 13 (UNI) The vector-borne menace, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), continued to claim lives of children in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll mounting to 146, following seven more deaths today.

Sources said since January, over 868 JE patients had been admitted to the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 146, including 14 Biharis and one Nepali, succumbed.

Almost 202 patients -- including 46 fresh cases -- are in remission.

The JE patients trickle from Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar, Kushinagar, Ballia, Gonda, Bahraich, Mau, Basti, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Gonda and Balrampur districts of UP. The neighbouring district Bihar accounts for 185 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. Last year, the killer disease had taken almost 1,000 people under its jaws.

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

UNI