Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey interacts with doctors at PMCH on Friday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, June 8: Eighty-five children have succumbed to suspected encephalitis in the past three weeks, leaving health department officials in the lurch and unfortunate parents groping for answers.

The health department is still unaware of the exact profile of the disease, which has been mainly classified as acute encephalitis syndrome till now. Of the total number of deaths, 36 have been reported from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), 39 from Muzaffarpur and 10 from Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in Gaya. Officials at the PMCH said since May 15, about 86 patients from 18 districts of the state have been admitted here with “brain fever” symptoms —high fever, convulsion and unconsciousness. Out of this, 36 patients succumbed to the illness within hours of getting admitted. Today, one patient was admitted and two children succumbed to the disease.

“In case of acute encephalitis syndrome, we can only give symptomatic treatment. In most of the cases, children died even before they could be managed or their blood and cerebro spinal fluid could be collected for diagnosis. Thus, it is difficult to ascertain the exact reason behind the deaths. On the other hand, there are several patients with acute encephalitis syndrome, who are now recovering after treatment,” said Sanjata Roy Chaudhary, the head of the department of paediatrics, PMCH.

Though officials with the health department claimed that the PMCH was equipped to handle emergency cases, the ground reality seemed different when The Telegraph visited the department to assess the situation.

While patients with acute encephalitis syndrome should be kept preferably in air-conditioned rooms and hygienic surrounding as per WHO protocol, emergency ward in the department is mostly run in the corridors of the building.

“We have 180 beds in the ward but very few rooms. On top of it, the number of patients is no less than 220 at any point of time. Many of the patients even have to share the beds sometimes. As there are three-four attendants each with every patient, there is a huge rush in the paediatric emergency all the time,” said Chaudhary.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who took a round of the hospital today said he had directed authorities to arrange for a separate air-conditioned ward for patients suffering from acute encephalitis syndrome.

Situation, on the other hand, remained grim in Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts as well. Ten more deaths were reported from Kejriwal Maternity Clinic and Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur in the past 24 hours.

Showcause notice

The state health department, taking cognisance to the report “Govt cold to rising kid deaths” published in The Telegraph, issued a showcause notice to the departmental head of anaesthesia of ANMCH, Gaya.

The notice sought an explanation from Dr D.K. Mishra on the non-usage of ventilators for patients suffering from acute encephalitis syndrome admitted in the hospital.

“I want to thank The Telegraph for bringing the issue to our notice,” health department principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha said at a news meet in the capital today.