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Another fatal disease hits U.P.

The virus, Coxsakie-B, has infected at least 245 people who are admitted to hospital

LUCKNOW: The seven districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh slowly recovering from the deadly onslaught of the Japanese Encephalitis virus are now faced with one of its cousins: Coxsakie-B.

The virus, which first appeared in the region in 2004 in the form of 25 ``queer cases'' of JE at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College (BRDMC) in Gorakhpur, has now infected at least 245 people, who were admitted to the same medical college, reputed paediatrician and Hindu Mahasabha MLA from Gorakhpur Radha Mohan Das Agrawal told UNI on Friday.

Mr Agrawal had raised the issue recently in the winter session of the Assembly, but the matter seemed to have been lost in the political wrangling on the Mau communal riots issue.

Dr Agrawal said that of the 50 samples of patients sent for testing at a lab in the national Capital, as many as 15 have tested positive for the fatal disease, but alleged that the BRDMC authorities were deliberately hiding the information to conceal their inability to handle the situation.

The MLA claimed to have visited the BRDMC hospital recently and exchanged information with acting Principal of the College Dr Rakesh Saxena and paediatrician A K Rathi presently attending to the patients.

Detailing further on the encephalitis caused by the Coxsakie-B virus, Dr Agrawal said that fast growing virus that multiplied from 25 in 2004 to 245 in 2005, is an entero-virus that spreads by faeco-oral route and has infection rate at least six times higher than JE.

While JE virus breeds in piggeries and is spread through the pig-mosquito-human cycle, the Coaxsakie-B virus, breeds among humans and spreads to human (Man-to-Man). -- UNI

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