Four months left and it’s time to prevent the Muzaffarpur repeat of acute encephalitis syndrome happening in 2020

What caused the Muzaffarpur children deaths in June 2019

Four months left and it’s time to prevent the same happening in 2020

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA

Almost half of children who died due to acute encephalitis syndrome in Bihar Muzaffarpur in mid-2019 had no history of Litchi consumption whereas majority of the rest were less than 2 years old and therefore not quite able to eat the fruit.

ICMR now has ordered for the investigations to ascertain the cause of sudden rise in deaths due to acute encephalitis syndrome in Bihar last year.

The council will now study in April May with at the onset of Summer further possibilities.

In 2019 we had 125 deaths and more than 550 cases of AES.

Possible causes

1.     Infective: Viral encephalitis, Cerebral malaria, scrub typhus

2.     Non infective: malnutrition, refeeding syndrome (hypocalcaemia, hypoglycaemia, Hypophosphatemia and hypokalaemia) poor health infrastructure

In Muzaffarpur 48% of children under the age of five are stunted, 17.5% are wasted 42 % are underweight.