Encephalitis kills hundreds

NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Encephalitis, a deadly viral disease, has killed hundreds of people, many of them children, in the past two months in India, health authorities said.

Gorakhpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has been the worst hit so far with more than 370 reported dead, NDTV television channel reported Sunday.

The broadcaster said the disease appeared to be spreading outside the state with Delhi and Chandigarh areas reporting similar cases.

CNN-IBN, quoting public health experts, reported that although the water or mosquito-borne viral disease has been concentrated in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh for years, claiming hundreds of lives each year, the epidemic has been badly mismanaged as the state is one of the poorest in the country.

The network said pediatric hospitals in the Gorakhpur area are unable to handle the rush of encephalitis patients.

"Every day we have to cope with this situation and this has been going on for the last two months. The number of patients is so large we cannot cope with the resources we have," said one pediatrician at the BRD Medical College and Hospital.

The network said the hundreds of patients admitted to various hospitals are suffering either from the mosquito-borne Japanese Encephalitis or its water-borne strain.

The situation is repeated year after year in the state during the monsoon season and the epidemic has still not been contained, CNN-IBN reported.

The report said the state government has allocated more than $5 million to handle the current crisis, but Dr. R.N. Singh, who has been fighting to eradicate the disease, says it is too little too late. He says he is fed up as the issue has not yet been taken up as an emergency on a national scale.

The Times of India said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, saying the situation amounts to a violation of children's right to life, has asked the Uttar Pradesh government for a report within 15 days.