Four more suspected encephalitis deaths in Bengal

Four more people have died of suspected encephalitis at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) here since Thursday, taking the toll to 44 in the past 16 days, health officials said Friday.

A delegation including two experts of School of Tropical Medicine (STM), Kolkata, visited NBMCH during the day to ascertain facts about the deaths purpotedly casued by caused by the encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis syndromes.

The team later left for the neighbouring Jalpaiguri district where they will visit the affected areas like Dhupguri, Maynaguri and Malbazar Saturday.

NBMCH superintendent Amarendranath Sarkar said in the last 16 days, 44 people have died at the hospital because of acute encephalitis syndrome, while at least 32 people are still undergoing treatment at the facility.