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Encephalitis claims 32 more lives

GORAKHPUR: The Japanese encephalitis raging in eastern Uttar Pradesh claimed 32 more lives since last evening pushing the death toll to 491 as Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said the State needed nearly 1.5 crore vaccines to contain the dreaded disease.

As many as 179 fresh cases were reported during the period, Additional Director (Health) D P Mishra said adding that a total of 1927 patients were admitted to different hospitals since the outbreak of the disease in July.

Maharganj district was worst-hit accounting for 102 deaths followed by Gorakhpur (100), Kushinagar (95) and Sant Kabir Nagar (55).

In Kanpur, the Chief Minister told reporters that the State Government was awaiting Centre's nod for purchase of vaccines from China and other countries.

He said the State now required nearly 1.5 crore vaccines to contain the disease which, according to health officials, had turned into an epidemic.

Mr. Yadav said the issue cropped up during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Lucknow as the State could not buy vaccines without approval of the Centre. -- PTI

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