Japanese Encephalitis toll rise to 316

Gorakhpur, Oct 16 (UNI) The vector-borne deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll reached 316, following the death of two more children today.

Last year, the deadly JE had killed almost 1,000 people in UP, while the scourage has already killed several thousands of people in the region over the last decade.

Officials sources said so far, 1,848 JE patients had reported at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College and other district hospitals in the division, of which 316 including 41 from Bihar and 3 from Nepal had died.

In the last 24 hrs, 27 fresh JE cases had come to light. Almost 184 JE patients were still convalescing.

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