Encephallitis claims 22 more lives in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Nov 6: With another 22 deaths due to encephallitis in the past five days in Gorakhpur, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday cancelled the leave of all doctors and paramedical staff, an official said.

This has been done to ensure that the health department is present in full strength to attend to the growing number of patients, the health department official said.

Officials also said the number of encephallitis-related deaths in the region were more or less the same as compared with the previous year, but there was a spurt in their numbers post the Phallin cyclone in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coastal regions, which also led to heavy and continued rainfall in Gorakhpur and neighbouring regions.

There were around 100 deaths due to the killer disease in October alone.

Officials also admit that the government's efforts to contain the disease have failed, resulting in the death of hundreds of people in the past few years. Seven districts of the region are severely affected with the encephallitis strain.

IANS