Four-year-old twin sisters die of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome at Bihar's SKMCH; hospital had reported 120 deaths due to the disease last year

Muzaffarpur: Twin sisters, aged four, died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district within hours of each other, a senior doctor said on Tuesday.

The girls, daughters of a labourer from Musahari block of the district, succumbed to the disease at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) on Monday, its Superintendent SK Shahi said.  They were admitted to the government hospital on 24 April, he said.

The Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital had reported 120 deaths due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or ‘brain fever’ last year.  On March 29, a three-year-old boy, hailing from Sakra block of the district, had also died of the disease at SKMCH.

This year, 14 children with AES have so far been admitted to the medical facility. Of them, eight children have recovered and three are undergoing treatment at the pediatric intensive care unit of the hospital, Shahi said.

Children afflicted with AES often tend to develop hypoglycemia which leads to a sudden drop in glucose level. The disease has been arguably linked to consumption of unripe litchis - grown in abundance in north Bihar.

Medical experts had last year blamed the high number of fatalities on the inordinate delay in administering glucose to the afflicted children.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, during review meetings held recently to take stock of coronavirus situation, repeatedly stressed on the need to stay prepared for AES, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), swine fever and bird flu.