Centre files reply in Supreme Court on Acute Encephalitis Syndrome outbreak in Bihar

The Centre this morning filed a reply in the Supreme Court on the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak in Bihar. The government told the apex court that a 100-bedded paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) would be set up at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur within one year.

The Centre also told the top court that five virology labs had been set up in different districts of Bihar and 10-bedded pediatric ICUs will also be established in different districts.

Centre submitted the reply to the Supreme Court that despite the fact that health is a state subject and it had taken all steps to help the Bihar government contain the outbreak of encephalitis.

The death toll due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) mounted to 140 in Muzaffarpur district on Friday.

As per official data, 119 deaths have been reported at the government-run SKMCH, which is handling the largest number of patients in the district, while 21 deaths were confirmed at Kejriwal Hospital.

Bihar has been battling the vector-borne disease for the past several weeks.

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.

The Supreme Court had on June 24 expressed "serious concern" over the rising number of deaths due to the disease.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the children, who died due to AES.