Indian fruit vendor offering lychees to customers from his roadside stall in Amritsar. (AFP/Narinder Nanu)

‘The Killer Lychees’ Caused Death of More Than 100 Children in India

Kinanty Nadia Putri
Politics & Economic
International
Jun 18, 2019
2199
An update record from a health official said that more than 100 children have died throughout this month from encephalitis, or commonly known as brain fever, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. While about 146 other children are still being treated for the disease.

In the city of Muzaffarpur, 85 children have now died at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH)—the state’s biggest hospital run by the government and 18 others at a private facility. The brain disease caused all these children to suffer symptoms like high fever, vomiting, seizures, altered mental state, and the worst scene of a sudden loss of glucose in their blood which leads to death in more than a third of cases.

The brain fever outbreak had happened annually during summer months which typically coincides with the lychee season since 1995 in the same district. In 2015, US researchers said the disease could be linked to a toxic substance found in the exotic fruit. However, this still needs more studies to uncover the cause of the illness.

A father of one girl that died took his entourage around SKMCH to call for an inspection of the hospital to India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. He protested against the poor facilities at the hospital which he considered incapable to save his daughter’s life. One doctor told a local TV channel that the SKMCH was unable to handle the rush of patients, whom most of them were wheeled in semi-conscious, due to the ill-equipped facilities.

Ashok Kumar Singh, a senior health official, said that the health department has issued an advisory for people to take care of their children during the heat wave that can reach 40 degrees Celsius in India.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/brain-disease-kills-more-than-100-indian-children-11636226

India , Bihar , Brain Fever , Lychees , Health , Encephalitis , Heat Wave