The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response within seven days from the Centre and Bihar government on the issue of the deaths of more than 100 children in Muzaffarpur due to the outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES).
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai directed the Bihar government to file an affidavit on the adequacy of medical facilities, nutrition and sanitation and the hygiene conditions in the state.
During the hearing, one of the lawyers informed the court that similar deaths had occurred earlier in Uttar Pradesh. The court took note of it and directed the state government to file its response as well.
The matter has been posted for hearing after 10 days.
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Two more children died in Muzaffarpur on Sunday due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) taking the total number of toll to 152. Both the deaths took place at the S.K. Medical College and Hospital, where 431 children, including two in the past 12 hours, have been admitted for AES treatment since June 1, according to figures released by the district administration. The total number of AES patients who have died at the SKMCH is 110.
"There is a perceptible decline in the number of children who are being admitted with brain fever as also the number of deaths," hospital superintendent Sunil Kumar Shahi said. "It has always been observed that AES strikes at the peak of summer and the outbreak halts with the onset of rains."
Two fresh cases have been registered, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, Shahi said. Besides the SKMCH, the Kejriwal hospital in the Muzaffarpur town has so far registered 162 AES cases and 20 casualties.
The health department suspended Bhimsen Kumar, a senior resident doctor posted at the Patna Medical College Hospital, for allegedly failing to comply with the direction to report for emergency duty at the SKMCH.
Experts attribute the deaths to hypoglycemia which typically affects malnourished children below the age of 15 years and said to be triggered by consumption of unripe lychees—a fruit grown in abundance in Bihar. The fruit contains a high concentration of a toxin that causes blood-sugar levels to fall sharply.
