-Deccan Chronicle Encephalopathy is a disease in which the functioning of the brain is affected. Whose children go to bed hungry? In a country with glaring social and economic disparities, hunger is a deeply political issue which many would like to dodge. But that is at the heart of the big story about the recent child deaths in Muzaffarpur, Bihar’s Litchi growing belt. At the time of writing, more than 100 children are...

-The Hindu All it would have taken was to ensure that the children had a meal at night Along with my colleagues, I had investigated the so-called mystery disease in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, during its outbreak in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The local name for it was acute encephalitis syndrome, but we found that the disease was not encephalitis but encephalopathy. This distinction is important. Encephalitis results from a viral infection, unless proved...

-TheWire.in Most ASHA workers complain that there isn't enough ORS to give affected children in villages. Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Promila Devi, a resident of Ganesh Sirsiya village in Bihar’s Motihari, had organised a puja at her home last Tuesday. At around 11 pm, she gave her four-year-old daughter Priyanshu a meal of roti and bhujiya before putting her to sleep. The day had been hectic, so Promila woke up late the next morning. But...

-Down to Earth The study establishes relation between Litchi consumption and encephalitis after conducting a hospital-based surveillance on 390 patients A recent study has linked occurrence of neurological disease—commonly known as encephalitis—to consumption of Litchi in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. Published in Lancet on March 31, the study recommends minimising Litchi consumption and also ensuring that the evening meal is not skipped as the latter modifies the effect of eating Litchis on...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The mystery behind the outbreak of an unexplained neurological illness in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, which had claimed nearly 100 lives each year till 2014, has been solved. Scientists from the US and India, after a joint investigation, have concluded that consuming Litchi --a tropical fruit Muzaffarpur is famous for- on an empty stomach triggers the illness and death. Seasonal outbreak of the mysterious illness, characterised by acute...