Japanese Encephalitis claims 10 more, toll at 440

Gorakhpur, Nov 15 (UNI) Japanese Encephalitis (JE), continued to target children in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll mounting to 440, following ten more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Since January, a total of 2445 JE patients had been admitted at the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and other hospitals of the division, of which 440, including 54 persos from Bihar and four from Nepal succumbed.

Almost 128 patients -- including 11 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.

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 undertakens 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