Japanese Encephalitis toll climbs to 492

Gorakhpur, Nov 29 (UNI) The killer vector-borne menace, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), continued to target children in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the toll reaching 492, following six more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Since January, 2,638 JE patients had been admitted at the famous Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and other hospitals of the division, of which 492, including 58 people from Bihar and four Nepalis, succumbed.

Almost 112 patients -- including 15 fresh cases -- are still recuperating.

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 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