Nearly 400 Perish in Meningitis Outbreak in India
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NEW DELHI, India — Nearly 400 people, most of them teen-agers and even younger children, have died in an epidemic of meningitis in the Indian capital, a Health Ministry official said Friday.
T. S. N. Gupta, the ministry’s spokesman, said 3,619 cases were reported in New Delhi from Jan. 1 through the third week of April, including 393 deaths. But he said there was a declining trend in the death rate.
Most of the victims were young people taken to hospital too late for treatment, he said.
The government has imported meningitis vaccines from France, and hospitals have been ordered to provide prompt treatment for patients, he said.
Doctors have advised people to cleanse their throats with antiseptic solution to prevent the disease from spreading, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
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