Encephalitis toll rises to 57 in Bihar

Patna, June 14: The death toll of children in Bihar's Muzzafarpur district, which is reeling under an outbreak of brain fever, rose to 57. The toll is expected to rise as dozens of kids are still receiving treatment in various hospitals and Bihar.

"In the last 20-22 days, 57 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)," Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey was quoted saying by ANI.

"We are monitoring all this. The Health Ministry in the state held a meeting on this and decided to make people aware of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)," he added.

However, a top state health official told PTI that the casualties were not related to AES but were caused by hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia causes abnormally low level of sugar in the blood or deficiency of sodium or potassium in the body.

Encephalitis, or Japanese encephalitis (JE), is a vector-borne viral infection that leads to acute inflammation (swelling) of the brain. If not spread through vectors, encephalitis could be a result of body's immune system attacking brain tissues.