More than 460 people, mostly children, have died after a fresh outbreak of Encephalitis in northern India. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder travelled to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to find out why the town is struggling to cope with the disease. Ward number 12 at Gorakhpur's main hospital is overflowing with sick children, two or three squeezed into a single bed. Many of them are visibly sick and are having to be administered...

-CNN-IBN   The Union Health Ministry did not act on early warnings over Encephalitis. 500 lives could have been saved had the ministry acted on the warnings. CNN-IBN has learned that the ministry also sat on a field report from National Disaster Management Authority on Encephalitis. Sources say officials from the National Disaster Management Authority met Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on September 15 and asked him to visit Gorakhpur immediately. The NDMA again sent...

Japanese Encephalitis — a form of brain fever — has hit the state capital and its neighbouring areas. At least 10-12 cases of the disease are being reported at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) daily over the past few days. Dr Nigam Prakash Narayan, a senior doctor at the paediatrics ward of the hospital, said: “About 250 patients of Encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital so far. Of them,...

Amounts to violation of right to life, survival and development' Taking suo motu cognizance of a large number of children dying due to Japanese Encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the State Government to submit an action taken report on these deaths within 15 days. The Commission has cited a news report wherein it has been mentioned that “the deadly Encephalitis, a water...

After claiming at least 376 lives in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the deadly Japanese Encephalitis is slowly spreading its tentacles outside the state with Delhi and Chandigarh being the latest to report cases of the viral infection. Transmitted by mosquito bites, the infection had, so far, been localised with Gorakhpur in UP being the worst affected. Apart from the over 300 cases of deaths of children, 4480 people were also infected this...