A total of 97 persons—mostly children—have died of Japanese encephalitis in a number of terai districts over the last few days, officials said.

Officiating head of the Epidemiology and disease control division at the Department of Health, Dr. G. D. Thakur, said up to 500 people have suffered from the disease so far. According to Dr. Thakur, the disease has been reported in a dozen districts and that districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya and Dang are more affected.

Officials fear that the number of casualty due to encephalitis could go up. A total of 70 persons had died of the disease – that is transmitted by mosquito—last year.

Meanwhile, Kantipur daily reported that the spread of epidemic this year is due to the government’s inability to use an assistance worth Rs 135 million provided by the World Bank to procure vaccines for the disease. Children below 15 years of age in five western terai districts –where there is high incidence of the disease—could not get the vaccines, the news report said.

According to officials, 99 percent of fatality due to encephalitis can be prevented if children are vaccinated in time. nepalnews.com by Aug 30 05