AES kills 43 kids in Bihar, spreads to new victims

Seven more children died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome-like symptoms in Bihar in last 24 hours, taking the toll to 43 even as new cases are being reported, officials said on Thursday.

With the toll feared to go up as dozens of kids were stillbeing treated in various hospitals, the state and Central governments arescrambling to contain the spread of the disease.

   

Regional Additional Director, Health, Ashok Kumar Singh, whois based in Muzaffarpur that has been worst hit by the disease outbreak,confirmed deaths of 43 children so far

As many as 36 children died in the government-run SriKrishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and seven in the private Kejriwalhospital as of Wednesday evening, he said.

With dozens of children undergoing treatment, Singh did notrule out more deaths on Thursday even as some reports said that the toll hadrisen above 60.

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar admitted that manychildren with symptoms akin to AES are still undergoing treatment in Muzaffarpurand few new patients were also admitted in the hospitals in last 24 hours. Till date, 143 cases of AES have been reportedfrom 11 districts – Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, EastChamparan, Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Bhojpur and Aurangabad. Kumar said that mostof children died due to hypoglycaemia (loss of sugar in the blood) and shortageof sodium in their bodies after developing symptoms akin to AES.

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