Two die of JE in Siliguri ... death toll: 23

TT, July 13: Two patients suffering from Japanese Encephalitis died at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and one person suffering from symptoms of the disease died at the Jalpaiguri district hospital in the past 24 hours.

An NBMCH official said Bhagwan Das Mahali, 28, had been admitted to the hospital on July 8. He died of JE today.

Another patient Ekadashi Sarkar, 80, was admitted to NBMCH on July 10 and she died last night because of JE.

"There have been two JE deaths in NBMCH in the past 24 hours. Bhagwan Das Mahali of Malbazar and Ekadashi Sarkar of Falakata have died. Both were detected with JE," said an NBMCH official.

At present, there are 17 patients in NBMCH who are suffering from either JE or symptoms of the disease.

Of the 17, eight are admitted to the medicine ward, five to the critical care unit and four to the paediatric ward.

With two more deaths in NBMCH today, the total number of deaths because of JE or symptoms of the disease has increased to 23 since January this year.

In Jalpaiguri, 20-year-old Ranjit Yadav, a resident of Petkati in Mainaguri, died at the district hospital last night.

He was admitted with fever and symptoms of JE.

The doctors have however, mentioned that he died because of a septicemic stroke.

"He was having fever since Friday. Yesterday, his temperature increased and we took him to Mainaguri Rural Hospital. The doctors there referred him to the district hospital in Jalpaiguri," said Ranjit's father Sunil.

"We admitted him yesterday afternoon. His condition was critical and around 11pm, the doctors told us that he had breathed his last," he said.

Though the doctors mentioned that Ranjit had died because of a septicemic stroke, his family is not ready to buy the theory.

"While examining him yesterday, the doctors at the hospital had told us that they are suspecting that he was suffering from JE. They also asked us whether there were any piggeries in our locality and whether Ranjit had gone to any such piggery," said Alok Sarkar, Ranjit's maternal uncle.

"As we confirmed the presence of piggeries, the doctors told us that Ranjit had acquired the infection from pigs," he said.

"They also took his blood samples for confirmatory tests. However, as the test reports are yet to come, they have mentioned something else in the death certificate," he added.

A hospital source said they couldn't confirm that the youth was suffering from JE unless they got the test reports.

"The cause of death that has been mentioned in Ranjit's death certificate is based on the report of doctors who had examined the patient after he was admitted here yesterday afternoon," said a senior health official.