Gorakhpur: A child succumbed to encephalitis here taking the death toll in the viral disease in eastern Uttar Pradesh to 130 this year, officials said on Saturday.
Seven-year-old Akash, a native of Azamgarh district, died at the BRD Medical College Hospital here yesterday.
Health department officials said that two patients suffering from suspected encephalitis were admitted to the hospital yesterday.
A total of 670 encephalitis patients have been admitted to different government hospitals of Gorakhpur and Basti division this year, of which 130 died, they said.
The dead include mostly children from different districts of eastern UP, 66 patients from adjoining Bihar and two from Nepal, they said.
While some of the patients were suffering from Japanese Encephalitis (JE), most of them were suffering from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).
JE spreads due to mosquito bites while AES spreads due to viruses present in contaminated water.
PTI
