The Hindu : National : U.P. reeling under water-borne diseases

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U.P. reeling under water-borne diseases

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: With at least two dozen districts of Uttar Pradesh reeling under the impact of rain-related diseases, the worst may not yet be over for them, despite the decline in floods and respite from the prolonged spell of monsoon.

Already, over 400 people have succumbed to viral fever, malaria, diarrhoea, encephalitis, gastro-enteritis and measles. With runoff of water receding following a lull in rainfall, a fresh outbreak of water and vector-borne diseases has not been ruled out.

Density of mosquitoes

According to health officials, there is a likelihood of a 25 per cent increase in the cases of viral fever and malaria, as also the dreaded encephalitis. “As the run off of rain and flood waters would be reduced to a considerable extent, the density of mosquitoes and viruses would increase in the stagnant water,” said R.R. Bharti, Director of Vector-Borne Diseases in the State Medical and Health Directorate here.

This year, the maximum casualties are caused by diarrhoea and encephalitis with diarrhoea accounting for 120 deaths and encephalitis 185. The 10,391 diarrhoea cases and deaths in 2008 (figures updated till September 2, 2008) have outstripped the 10,287 cases reported in 2007 and the 55 deaths caused by the disease.

The Director-General, Medical and Health Services, Uttar Pradesh, I.S. Srivastava said 115 fresh cases of diarrhoea were reported on Tuesday, with no casualties. Of the 24 new cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) reported on Tuesday, four victims died in Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria and Maharajganj districts, Dr. Srivastava said.

In the diarrhoea-affected districts, 500 or more cases have been reported from Jalaun (663), Gorakhpur (757), Lucknow (790), Gautam Buddha Nagar (684), Varanasi (1,406), Chandauli (1,224), Sonebhadra (566) and Mirzapur (510).

Among them, 22 people have succumbed to the disease in Mirzapur and 18 in Varanasi. Three deaths have occurred in Lucknow.

According to the Director-General, 21 fresh cases were reported at Atesua in the Itaunja tehsil of Lucknow district. While 13 were diarrhoea cases the rest were suffering from fever. In Kanpur Dehat district, where 261 people have succumbed to malaria and other rain-related diseases, 1,455 blood samples were collected from 147 villages. Of these, 148 samples were malaria-positive.

The encephalitis cases and deaths in the State as on September 2, 2008 showed an increase compared to the corresponding period last year.

Till Tuesday, the number of AES and JE cases stood at 1,016 and the number of deaths 185. The figure was 570 cases and 97 deaths on September 2, 2007.

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