Encephalitis death toll touches 45 in north Bengal

EOI, SILIGURI, 27 Jul 2015: The deadly Encephalitis epidemic has spread cold chills among the people of north Bengal as the dreaded disease continues to kill people almost on a daily basis. 

Following the death of an elderly person in Jalpaiguri on Saturday, three more deaths were reported from different parts of the region on Sunday, taking to toll to 45. 

With the pace at which the disease is taking lives in north Bengal this year, it looks apparent that the toll could touch 50 in just a matter of days. 

The state health department has already set up isolation wards and specialised teams at various state hospitals in the region to tackle the disease, but these efforts have not shown any positive results yet. 

To make matters worse, the number of patients has neither decreased nor stayed at the same level as more patients continue to get admitted with symptoms of Encephalitis. 

On Sunday, five more people, including a child, were admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital taking the total number patients with the disease to 19. Later the same day, three people including a child died of the disease. 

The deceased have been identified as Pratima Devnath (47) from Alipurduwar District, 4-year old Pinky Mallik from Durga Nagar Colony, Darjeeling and Mangru Oroan (50) from Kamalpur in Bagdogra. 

A total of 32 people have already died due to Encephalitis so far this month.