Bihar children death toll mounts to 132 due to Encephalitis

Patna : A total of 132 children have been reportedly died in Bihar due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak.

The 132 deaths include 111 from the S K Medical College and Hospital and 21 from Kejriwal Hospital.

The court on Monday observed that the deaths raise a severe concern over the availability of medicines along with the public policy in place to counter the current scenario. Since all the deaths are of the children, the court said it is important to know the reason.

Issuing the notice, the court has asked the parties to file an affidavit within seven days.

The plea filed by two advocates, Manohar Pratap and Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, contended that the state and Central governments should work in tandem to immediately arrange 500 ICUs (intensive care units) with required medical professionals to deal with the situation.

The petitioners contended that the state government must compensate the families of each of the dead with Rs 10 lakh.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has remained mum so far on the matter.