Japanese Encephalitis toll reaches 127

Gorakhpur, Aug 9 (UNI) The deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll in Uttar Pradesh has mounted to 127 with the death of three more children overnight.

The fresh deaths were reported from Gorakhpur and Kushinagar.

Official sources said since January one this year, 649 JE patients had reported at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 127 people, including 15 from Bihar and two from neighbouring country Nepal have died.

In the last 24 hours, 19 fresh JE cases had come to light, while 136 JE patients were still recovering at various hospitals.

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.

Last year, JE had claimed over 1,000 lives in UP. The scourge has accounted for thousands of lives in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region over the last decade.

The endemic afflicts eastern UP during monsoon every year and continues to take people under its jaws till the onset of winters.

The government undertakes massive vaccination drive against the disease every year. However, the efficacy and penetration of the drive comes under cloud with the mounting toll.

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