Child dies of Japanese encephalitis: Toll 24 in N Bengal

EOI, JALPAIGURI 14 Jul 2015: A child, suffering from Japanese encephalitis, died on Tuesday at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, taking the death toll from the dreaded disease to 24 in North Bengal since January.

The boy, under treatment at the hospital in Siliguri for the past several days, died at the hospital, NBMCH acting Superintendent Nirmal Bera said. He said 14 persons have died of the mosquito-borne disease since July 1 at the hospital.

A total of 24 have died since the outbreak of the disease in January first week, Bera added.

Seventeen persons were currently undergoing treatment, he said, adding, patients were from Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling Hill district areas of the region.

Of the 17 afflicted with the disease, four were in the paediatrics department.

Meanwhile, Siliguri Mayor Ashok Bhattacharya went around the wards of the hospital and talked to the patients' families.

Bhattacharya said to avert any outbreak of the disease in Siliguri, camps were being set up for collecting blood samples, and people asked to dispose stagnant water and close vigil being maintained on cow sheds.

So far no case has been reported from the Siliguri city area, he added.