Japanese Encephalitis death reaches 435 mark

Gorakhpur, Nov 10 (UNI) The vector-borne deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) toll reached 435, following the death of eight more children today.

Last year, the deadly JE had killed almost 1,000 people in UP, while the scourge has already killed several thousands of people in the region over the last decade.

Official sources said so far, 2,376 JE patients had come to the Baba Raghav Das Medical College here, of which 435 had died.

In the last 24 hrs, 29 people have been admitted to hospital, while 144 JE patients were still convalescing.

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.

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

UNI JAS AKJ AS1722