Now, the outbreak is spreading to some of the adjoining districts. Three-year-old Salman, from Bihar's Sheohar district, has been at a government hospital in Muzaffarpur for over two days now, brought in with the familiar symptoms of fever, shivering and body ache, that affects hundreds of children in these parts each year, and has resulted in many deaths from what doctors suspect is acute encephalitis.
But over two decades after this disease started hit Muzaffarpur, no cause or cure has been found yet.
The Bihar government says it has provided an ambulance at each block office within Muzaffarpur so that children exhibiting any of the symptoms can be rushed to the designated hospitals. Currently, two hospitals in Muzaffarpur, one government and one private children's hospital have the required facilities and treatment available. However a dedicated encephalitis ward at the government hospital has not been set up but authorities says it will be created soon.
Last week , the Union Health Minister announced a series of measures to tackle encephalitis including a bigger effort to identify the cause of the disease and a five-year action plan similar to the one implemented for polio.
Source: NDTV
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