Encephalitis claims 5 more lives; death toll reaches 309

With five more children succumbing to encephalitis at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur during past 24 hours, the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 309 in eastern district of Uttar Pradesh this year.

The dead include one child each from Maharajganj, Deoria, Kushinagar and Siddharthanagar districts of eastern UP, and one child from adjoining Bihar, health officials said, adding, that 23 encephalitis patients have been admitted to the hospital during past 24 hours.

This year as many as 1527 encephalitis patients, mostly children, were admitted to BRD Medical College Hospital, of which 309 died, they said.