Japanese Encephalitis claims 12 more, toll at 227

Gorakhpur, Sep 29 (UNI) Japanese Encephalitis (JE), continued to claim lives of children in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll mounting to a staggering figure of 227, following 12 more deaths today.

Official sources said, since January over 1,381 JE patients had been admitted at the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and several district hospitals, of which 227, including 29 Biharis and one Nepali, succumbed.

Almost 248 patients -- including 36 fresh cases -- are still 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.

Gorakhpur has the dubious distinction 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