Japanese Encephalitis toll crosses 260

Gorakhpur, Sep 17 (UNI) The Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll today reached 263, following four more deaths in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours.

The fresh casualty comprised two of Bihar and one from Gorakhpur and Deoaria district each.

Since January 1, 398 JE patients had been admitted to the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here and other hospitals of the division, of which 263 succumbed to the disease.

Almost 168 patients -- including 15 fresh cases -- are in remission.

The JE patients mostly 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 in its jaws.

The government undertakes a massive vaccination drive against the vector-borne disease every year, however, the efficacy and penetration of the drive has come under cloud with the mounting toll.

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