Japanese Encephalitis toll reaches 130

Gorakhpur, Aug 11 (UNI) The deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll in Uttar Pradesh has mounted to 130 with the death of three more children overnight.

Two deaths were reported from Gorakhpur and one from Kushinagar.

Official sources said since January 1 this year, 675 JE patients had reported at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 130 people, including 15 from Bihar and two from neighbouring country Nepal have died.

In the last 24 hrs, 36 fresh JE cases had come to light, while 144 JE patients were still convalescing 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 people in UP. The scourage has accounted for several 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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