Six more die in Gorakhpur; JE toll 562

Six more patients succumbed to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) at Baba Raghav Das Medical College here in the past 24 hours.

Six more patients succumbed to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) at Baba Raghav Das Medical College here in the past 24 hours. With this, the death toll in the medical college went upto 562 since the outbreak of the disease.

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Twenty-nine fresh patients were brought here for treatment from various districts of the division. So far, 2119 patients have been admitted here for treatment and 229 are still undergoing treatment in three wards of the medical college.

Though the death rate has declined, the influx of patients continues. Nodal officer at the medical college Dr PN Srivastava said the condition of patients admitted in three wards was stable and the death rate would go down further in the next two days. He said the required medicines and life supporting drugs were available here and the patients were getting the best possible treatment.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Ashok Kumar Srivastava demanded that the State Government chalk out a long-term plan for rehabilitation of encephalitis patients, as the disease causes various disabilities in victims who manage to survive.

He demanded that the victims’ family should be provided economic assistance, as many of them have sold their land for treatment of their wards. State secretary of Janata Dal (Youth) United Gautam Lal condemned the State Government for its “mysterious silence” over the death of poor people. He said the activists of JD-U would oppose the visit of the chief minister here on September 23.