MYAGDI: More than one hundred locals have taken ill due to the chickenpox outbreak in Hidi village, Myagdi, sources said today.

MURAROI, 2 JUNE: About 45 residents of Dhutura village near Muraroi in Birbhum have been suffering from chicken pox for the past three days.

May 18: There was a five fold increase in the number of chicken pox cases reported in 2008 compared to the previous year. And this year, over 60 cases have been reported by the second week of May.

NEW DELHI: The Capital has recorded over 2,000 cases of chickenpox so far this year, which according to a senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi official is high for this time of the year. "Over 600 patients have been treated at MCD's outdoor facilities. We do get a lot of chickenpox cases between January and April, but this year the numbers have been on the higher side. While about 1,500 cases have been reported from Delhi, some 800 patients have arrived from the neighbouring States. We are getting more cases,' said a senior MCD official.

In spite of vaccinations, the breaking out of chicken pox has rung alarm bells in most districts of UP. The situation is so serious that in the first four months of the year, some 38 people have lost their lives to the scourge with 700 patients presently under treatment in the state. Medical authorities blame the frequent changes in weather for the increasing incidence of chicken pox.

With a change in season, ailments like viral fevers, chicken pox and vomiting and loose motions have spread in Ghaziabad area.

The Capital has recorded over 1,100 cases of chickenpox this year. This, according to a senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi official, is high for this time of the year. Over 600 patients were treated at MCD's outdoor facilities, he said. "We do get a lot of chickenpox cases between January and April, but this year the numbers have been on the higher side. However, there is no cause for worry,' he added.

All stocks of smallpox virus in laboratories should be destroyed as soon as possible, scientists in the US have warned. No one has been immunised against the once-fatal disease for more than two

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