A child undergoes treatment at ANMCH in Gaya on Thursday. Picture by Suman

Muzaffarpur, June 7: Health officials have expressed concern over children succumbing to suspected encephalitis in the district with seven more deaths being reported in the past 12 hours.

With today’s casualties, the toll has reached 29. Till this afternoon, five children undergoing treatment at Kejriwal Maternity Clinic and two boys admitted to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) died.

Kejriwal Maternity Clinic administrator B. Giri said: “The situation has reached alarming proportions. The death of the children has come as a shock for the medical fraternity.”

Eleven children at Kejriwal Maternity Clinic and five at SKMCH are still struggling for life, even as new cases continue to pour in from Muzaffarpur and adjoining areas.

The patients under treatment at Kejriwal Maternity Clinic include six children, who were admitted with symptoms similar to encephalitis today.

The chief medical officer-cum-civil surgeon of Muzaffarpur, Dr Gyan Bhushan, visited Kejriwal Maternity Clinic and SKMCH today to monitor the medical aid offered to the ailing children.

He said: “The health department has identified 110 villages as vulnerable. The department has planned to launch spraying of DDT (insecticide) to kill the germs and mosquitoes from Friday. It has also launched mass awareness programmes among villagers to counter the outbreak of suspected encephalitis. Health workers are visiting villages and hamlets to ask villagers not to fall prey to superstitions in case children suffer from fever and heatstroke or experience headache and breathlessness or vomit.”