Acute encephalitis syndrome takes away lives of more than 125 children in Bihar

June 18: In Muzaffarpur, over 250 children are still in two hospitals — government-run Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and private-run Krishnadevi Deviprasad Kejriwal Maternity Hospital. Many of them may not live more than a few days. As many as 125 children, have died till now from what is medically known as acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). All of these children seem to be below 10 years of age.

According to a census,between 2000 and 2010, over 1,000 children in the district succumbed to the infection, which leads to swelling in the head. The cause itself has eluded researchers, but experts say a deadly mixture of heatwave, malnourishment and binging on litchis on an empty stomach is to be blamed for the high death toll this year. The cure could have been as simple as timely administration of glucose.

Union heath minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and state health minister Mangal Pandey, who visited the hospital on Sunday, said a new and separate building for pediatrics with 100 beds would be built soon. But these moves are neither going to contain the disease nor prevent the children from dying. The Union government sent a team to Muzaffarpur to assess the cause of the deaths and advised the hospital to set up a research wing and preserve serum samples for rechecking.