Encephalitis claims six more lives, toll touches

Six more children died of encephalitis here in the past 48 hours, taking the death toll in the region this year to 527, health officials said today.

A total of 11 patients with encephalitis syndrome had been admitted to the BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the past two days and six died of the disease during the same period, they said.

With the new admissions, as many as 2,393 patients have been treated at the BRD Medical College and other hospitals in the region so far, hospital sources said.