Japanese Encephalitis toll climbs to 135

Gorakhpur, Aug 13 (UNI) The Japanese Encephalitis (JE) death toll in Uttar Pradesh reached 135 with the death of three more children today.

Fresh deaths were reported from Gorakhpur, Kushinagar and Basti districts.

Official sources said since January one this year, 711 JE patients had reported at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 135 people, including 15 from Bihar and two from neighbouring country Nepal have died.

In the last 24 hours, 13 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 killed over 1,000 people in UP, while 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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