New Delhi: As many as 17 children have died in Bihar after the fresh outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) there. Several children are admitted in hospitals with high fever and are reported to be critical
In Muzaffarpur district alone, 12 children have died in the last one week.
On Sunday, 13 children were admitted in hospitals. Earlier on Friday, 21 children were admitted to Muzaffarpur’s Sri Krishna Memorial College Hospital (SKMCH) with encephalitis symptoms. 14 other cases were reported from Kejriwal hospital.
The medical experts said that the outbreak of the disease has happened after a gap of three years, adding that it occurs only when heat coupled with high level humidity rises to an extreme level. The disease is controlled with the onset of monsoon.
Muzaffarpur’s Civil surgeon SP Singh on Saturday said that the reasons for the death of children are being ascertained and that children are being admitted with symptoms like high fever and hypoglycemia, i.e, sudden drop in sugar level. The hypoglycemia leads to collapse of life support functioning in the body of a minor.