Unicef, in association with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, has decided to start a fresh research to identify viruses responsible for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES).

The disease rears its head almost every summer in Muzaffarpur and adjoining north Bihar districts, claiming lives, generally of children. It killed over 68 children in the district last year.

Over 10 doctors from preventive and social medicine department of AIIMS Patna have been entrusted the task of researching the viruses. An AIIMS-Patna team visited Muzaffarpur to collect details.

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, in the US, too, is trying to identify the viruses. Two teams of scientists, from the CDC and another led by Jacob John of the Gorakhpur Medical College in Uttar Pradesh, have been burning the midnight oil for over two years to get some clue on the viruses but are yet to make a breakthrough.

District chief medical officer Gyan Bhushan said the Atlanta-based centre had not detected any viruses yet. Blood, urine and stool samples of 150 children treated for AES at the Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and Kejriwal Maternity Clinic this year had been sent to Atlanta thanks to then Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.

The team of encephalitis experts led by Jacob John, too, was in Muzaffarpur in July to collect samples for necessary research.

SKMCH superintendent G.K. Thakur told The Telegraph that Dr C.M. Singh and Dr Sanjay Pandey from the preventive and social medicine department of AIIMS, Patna, visited Muzaffarpur on November 15 and collected details and data of children who were cured of AES.

They also noted down symptoms and details of those children who died in the course of treatment and made photocopies of records showing treatment provided to affected children.

Thakur said Unicef has extended a helping hand to discern the viruses of AES. The research into viruses, once it starts, would continue for six months.