Altogether 100 children have died and 57 others were undergoing treatment at various hospitals due to outbreak of the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar since May this year, state's Health Minister Ashwani Chaube said today.
Health experts have questioned the Bihar government's delay in declaring Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, a disease that has killed 135 children in the state, as an epidemic. "Bihar should declare the disease as an epidemic so that doctors can collect brain tissue of the deceased for further tests," said Director of National Institute of Virology Dr A C Mishra.
The National Human Rights Commission sent notices to the Union health ministry and the Bihar government over reports of increasing number of deaths of children in Muzaffarpur.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- who had visited the town on Tuesday and issued elaborate instructions to tackle the situation -- is scheduled to hold a high-level meeting in Gaya later in the day.
With one more child succumbing to encephalitis, the death toll in the viral disease has mounted to 588 in eastern Uttar Pradesh this year.
Seven more children succumbed to encephalitis since Sunday evening pushing the death toll from the viral infection in Uttar Pradesh's eastern region to 433 this year, officials said.
Manohar Paswan and Phulesri Devi's three-year-old child is fighting for his life after contracting Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. Last week, they had admitted their only son in the Encephalitis Ward of the Sri Krishna Memorial College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. But his condition has not shown any signs of improvement.
With the death of nine children on Thursday, as many as 15 more kids have succumbed due to encephalitis during the past three days.
A total of 111 deaths have been reported from government-run SKMCH and 20 in Kejriwal hospital.
A Rs 4,038 crore multi-pronged plan for prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) was cleared by the government on Thursday.
India's drug regulator CDSCO has recalled three cough syrups and halted their production after the WHO raised concerns about potential contamination and links to child deaths. The WHO is investigating reports of pediatric illnesses and deaths in India potentially linked to contaminated syrups.
From January 1, 2019, to till now, 220 children were admitted in Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur due to AES, out of which 62 lost their lives.
A total of 165 persons have lost their lives in Assam due to Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, prompting Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to call an emergency meeting with health officials on Wednesday.
Eight more children succumbed to encephalitis taking the death count from the viral disease to 569 this year in eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, health officials said on Wednesday.
Bihar's Muzaffarpur district has again been hit by encephalitis with 6 children dead in the last twenty-four hours. The death toll has risen to 9 and over two dozen children suspected to have contracted the illness have been admitted to different hospitals.
The death toll from suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome touched 102 on Monday with 25 more children succumbing to the disease in the last 48 hours in Bihar's Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts, officials said.
The plea also sought a direction to the Centre for providing all necessary medical equipment and other supports for the effective treatment of the children suffering from the epidemic disease.
The dreaded encephalitis, a mosquito-borne disease, claimed has claimed the lives of over 20 children in Bihar, health officials have said.
After the death of 127 children from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar in the last three weeks, the state government has finally woken up to the dismal situation. Delay on the part of the state government to identify the disease in time as AES and lack of awareness about the fatal symptoms have created havoc in the worst-affected districts of Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Vaishali.
Silki Kumari ,Chanchal Kumar and Manish Kumar, just three of the dozens of children of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, which is hit by an outbreak of encephalitis, have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help save their lives after 18 children died of the disease in the last few days.
A total of 43 districts in India are currently reporting AES cases.
The SC asked the Bihar government to file an affidavit on the adequacy of medical facilities, nutrition and sanitation and the hygiene conditions in the state.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will conduct testing, inspection and auditing of cough syrup manufacturers.
Those demonstrating alleged inadequate services by the hospital and negligence by politicians.
Vardhan said the 15-member central team of doctors and para-medics will be replaced by a team with similar strength for further 10 days, ensuring continuity of care of admitted cases.
Dr Kafeel Khan, whose name surfaced in the 2017 Gorakhpur encephalitis deaths case, has expressed gratitude to superstar Shah Rukh Khan for shedding light on the tragic incident through his blockbuster film Jawan.
An entirely preventable disease claimed the life of 173 children -- thanks to state apathy.
Yadav, 31, apparently referring to the age of the 69-year-old chief minister and said that he has got tired due to which he gives up when faced with a difficult situation -- be it the coronavirus pandemic or Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak in Muzaffarpur.
The government, every year, hides behind the mystery of the disease, linking it with litchis, and does not confess malnutrition as the prime cause, points out Mohammad Sajjad.
Kumar, who had been away in New Delhi since Saturday, returned to the state capital on Monday evening and held an emergency review meeting on the AES situation with officials.
"No one has been discharged from the isolation ward. Source of the virus is not confirmed yet."
The RJD leader said he was being treated for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during the past month.
UP government data claims 6.5 deaths a day till August against 16 in 2014, 19 in 2015 and 17 in 2016.
A free press is not necessarily an unbiased press. The media curates what it presents to the public, and that curation is driven by multiple considerations, argues Devangshu Datta.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
Seventeen children died in the neo-natal ward, five in the acute encephalitis syndrome ward and eight in the general ward.
'Political elites need to feel that these are our children dying, that this is a crisis for us, a tragedy for our community, we must take immediate action to save the lives of our people.'
It also advised testing on demand for 'all individuals undertaking travel to countries or Indian states mandating a negative COVID-19 test at the point of entry'.
'The majority of the spread is by people coughing, or sneezing or talking loudly, in a very short distance, two metres from one another, and a mask will prevent that sort of transmission.'
Nipah virus infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans.
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