Eight more lives succumb to encephalitis; toll mounts to 466

Eight more children succumbed to encephalitis in Gorakhpur, taking the death toll due to the disease in eastern Uttar Pradesh to 466 this year, health officials said on Monday.

The eight died at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital (BRD-MCH) here yesterday. They hailed from Kushinagar, Siddharthanagar and Basti region.

A total of 2,302 encephalitis patients have been admitted to hospitals this year, the officials said. As many as 201 patients are being treated at BRD MCH at present, they said.

Japanese Encephalitis which was tested positive for 156 patients spreads through mosquito bite, while the rest of the patients were tested positive with Acute Encephalitis syndrome, they added.