The main areas where the outbreak of the virus has been noticed are poor, flood-hit areas, where monsoons have left pools of stagnant water that have allowed mosquitoes to breed and infect villagers
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Encephalitis, a rare condition that causes inflammation of the brain, has killed 532 people in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh this year, the New Delhi Television (NDTV) channel reported on Monday.
Encephalitis is most often caused by a viral infection from eating or drinking contaminated food or water, from mosquito or other insect bites, or through breathing in respiratory droplets from an infected person.
According to the report, three children have died in the past 24 hours in the districts of Kushinagar, Mahrajganj and Gorakhpur.
The main areas where the outbreak of the virus has been noticed are poor, flood-hit areas, where monsoons have left pools of stagnant water that have allowed mosquitoes to breed and infect villagers.
The floods have also led to the contamination of clean water sources such as wells, leaving many people with no option but to use the same dirty water for both drinking and sanitation.
According to the World Health Organisation, viral encephalitis causes high fever, headache, stiff neck and back, vomiting, confusion and, in severe cases, seizures, paralysis and coma. Infants and elderly people are particularly at risk of severe illness.
The infection spreads every year in impoverished parts of Uttar Pradesh during the monsoon season, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
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