Bihar Encephalitis deaths: Senior doctor suspended over negligence of duty in Muzaffarpur as toll rises to 129
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The death toll in Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) has touched 109 while 20 children died at Kejriwal hospital in the district due to the vector-borne disease, ANI reported citing official data.
A senior resident doctor of Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), Dr Bhimsen Kumar, has been suspended over alleged negligence of duty by the authorities.
The health department had deployed Kumar, a paediatrician at Patna Medical College and Hospital to SKMCH on June 19.
Meanwhile, the death toll due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) rose to 129 in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, news agency ANI reported.
The death toll in SKMCH has touched 109 while 20 children died at Kejriwal hospital in the district due to the vector-borne disease, ANI reported citing official data.
The AES is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms such as high fever, vomiting and in extreme cases, brain dysfunction, seizure, and inflammation of heart and kidney. According to Bihar health department, the viral disease has spread across 16 districts and so far at least 140 lives in the state.
Hundreds of children are admitted to hospitals -- mostly at Muzaffarpur's SKMCH and privately-owned Kejriwal hospital -- for treatment of AES.
The high number of deaths this year has been blamed on hypoglycemia or sudden drop in blood sugar levels, which some experts attribute to malnutrition and consumption of unripe litchi -- a fruit grown in abundance in north Bihar -- on an empty stomach and failure to administer glucose within four hours of the onset of fever and other symptoms.
Nearly 600 patients have been admitted since June 1 out of which 298 were discharged from hospitals after the treatment.
(With inputs from agencies)