Encephalitis kills eight more children in Bihar

Eight more children have succumbed to encephalitis in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, taking the total deaths in the state since early May to 31, officials said Monday.

Two of the children died Tuesday.

A district health official said: "It is an alarming situation as the disease continue to kill children."

Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Gayan Bhushan said doctors and health experts were eagerly awaiting the onset of monsoon as the rains are likely to slowdown the spread of the disease.

Monsoon is likely to enter Bihar June 11 or 12.

Over a dozen children were warded in government hospitals and private nursing homes in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here.

The symptoms of this mosquito-borne disease include high fever, irritation and swelling in the brain.

39 encephalitis deaths, high alert in Bihar

After the death of at least 39 children in Bihar in the past 15 days, a high alert was sounded in Bihar, health officials said here Monday.

Most of the deaths took place at Patna Medical College and Hospital in the last two weeks.

“Several more children are in various hospitals for treatment,” Sanjata Roy Choudhary, head of the paediatric department at the hospital, told.

All the dead were below 10 years and from poor families, she said, adding she also suspected that two or three children died of Japanese encephalitis.

According to hospital officials, most of the fatalities were from different villages in the flood prone districts of Muzaffarpur and Vaishali in northern Bihar.

Choudhary said that she had already informed the departments concerned of the spread of the disease in the region.

Encephalitis, transmitted by a mosquito bite, is a viral infection occurring throughout south, south east and east Asia.link