Siliguri: Six more patients died of Japanese encephalitis in northern West Bengal yesterday, as the toll climbed to 58 over the past 19 days, health officials said.
With the half a dozen deaths reported from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), 12 people have perished due to the disease over the last two days as the disease assumed a serious proportion, said the facility’s assistant superintendent Rajib Basu.
In addition, one patient who died of high fever in the Jalpaiguri District Hospital last week had tested positive for Japanese encephalitis.
The victim breathed his last July 16, but the blood test report was received form NBMCH during the day, said hospital superintendent Sushanta Roy. The hospital does not have the facility to confirm encephalitis through blood tests.
Roy said so far ten people - admitted with high fever - have died in the hospital in the last two weeks.
Altogether, 110 people had admitted to the district hospital with symptoms of fever. Blood samples of 15 patients have been sent to the NBMCH.
NBMCH principal Anup Kumar Roy termed the outbreak as “very serious”, but stopped short of saying that the disease has taken an epidemic form in the region. “What I can confirm the matter is very serious and we are taking every possible step to combat the disease from further spreading,” he said. IANS
