Gorakhpur: With eight more deaths reported in the past 36 hours, the cumulative death toll due to encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh has risen to 376 this year.
Of the persons who have succumbed to the disease, four are from Kushinagar and one each from Mahrajganj, Deoria, Basti and Gorakhpur districts, said Diwakar Prasad, Additional Director Health, Gorakhpur division.
They were undergoing treatment at BRD Medical College here and other government hospitals in adjacent districts, he said. According to data available, as many as 44 patients have succumbed to various kinds of encephalitis in the region in the past 10 days.
Prasad said that out of 2,480 encephalitis patients admitted in the government hospitals in the region this year, 376 have succumbed to the disease.
At present, 321 encephalitis patients are undergoing treatment at BRD Medical College and hospitals in adjacent districts. 43 fresh patients of encephalitis have been admitted in BRD MCH and district hospitals of the region during the past 36 hours, Prasad said. Experts say two mainly kinds of encephalitis are prevailing in the region -- Japanese encephalitis, which is caused by mosquito bite while the other type of encephalitis occurs due to consumption of unsafe drinking water.
Both are vector borne diseases, they said.
PTI