Encephalitis deaths: SC seeks answers from Bihar, UP and Centre

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Jun 24

As more than 125 children die of suspected acute encephalitis syndorme (AES) in Muzaffarpur, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Bihar Government and the Centre to file affidavits within a week on adequacy of public medical care facilities, nutrition and sanitation/hygiene in the state.

A Vacation Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna sought a similar affidavit from the Government of Uttar Pradesh, where Gorakhpur and adjoining districts had been affected by AES in recent past.

“This is a serious matter. Deaths can’t keep happening. We need definite answers,” said the Bench – which also included Justice BR Gavai – and posted the matter for further hearing after 10 days.

During the hearing, the Bihar Government submitted that it was taking all necessary steps to control the spread of the disease and that the situation was now under control.

The order came on a PIL filed by advocate Manohar Pratap seeking direction to the Centre to intervene and urgently send a team of medical experts to Muzaffarpur for treatment of children suffering from the disease. He has also sought direction to the Centre to provide all necessary medical help and support for effective treatment of children suffering from the epidemic and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to surviving members of family of each child who died due to negligence of the state machinery. 

Symptoms of AES include high fever, convulsions and extremely low blood sugar levels. Among the factors said to trigger the syndrome are malnutrition. Patients often report acute onset of fever and altered consciousness, with a rapidly deteriorating clinical course, leading to death within hours. Litchis grown in Muzaffarpur—India’s largest litchi cultivation region—are said to contain a toxin which can cause drop in blood sugar levels if consumed by a malnourished child.

Pratap said he was deeply pained and saddened by the deaths of more than 126 children, mostly in the age group of one to 10 years and the figure was rising day-by-day. 

“The deaths of children are a direct result of negligence and inaction on the part of the respective state governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Union of India in handling the epidemical situation which arises every year due to outbreak of AES also called Japanese encephalitis,” the plea alleged. 

It said that thousands of young children were losing their lives yearly from the disease but the governments (state and Centre) had done nothing to prevent its spread. 

The petition sought a direction to the Bihar government to issue an extraordinary government order asking all the private medical institutions in the affected area to provide free of cost treatment to the AES patients.