Encephalitis kills at least 100 children in India
Pastor Dale Morgan
Encephalitis kills at least 100 children in India*
Updated Thu. Dec. 17 2006 8:45 AM ET
Associated Press
LUCKNOW, India -- Japanese encephalitis has killed at least 100 children
in northern India over the past month, bringing the death toll from the
mosquito-borne disease to 382 since an outbreak began in July, officials
said Thursday.
The new deaths in the impoverished state of Uttar Pradesh came despite
the onset of the winter season, when the spread of the disease usually
subsides. Still, officials said the death toll this year was much lower
compared to 1,400-odd people who died last year because of encephalitis.
"The encephalitis toll has climbed to 382," said Dr. Alok Nigam, a state
health official. Most of the dead are children under age 15.
Nigam said 2,181 cases of encephalitis have been reported since July
this year, a majority of them from the eastern part of the state,
especially from the district of Gorakhpur, about 250 kilometres
southeast of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh.
The state's health director, S.S. Srivastava, said he expects
encephalitis deaths to fall in the coming weeks as the temperature dips
further. Mosquitoes generally die in temperatures below 10 C.
Encephalitis, which causes high fevers and vomiting and ultimately can
leave patients comatose, can be prevented by vaccinations.
However, its outbreak is routine in Uttar Pradesh, a state of 180
million people where most public health facilities are out of reach for
the overwhelming poor population.