Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday visited Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, where 81 children have died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the past fortnight. Seven children died on Sunday, taking the total number of casualties due to AES to 81, health officials said. Seventy three children had died till Saturday night. Harsh Vardhan, accompanied by Union Minister of State for Health Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, visited the state-owned Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH). “The Ministers are holding a closed-door review meeting with the doctors and health officials to take stock of the situation,” a district health official said. Meanwhile SKMCH and private Kejriwal Hospital in the city continue to recieve fresh cases with symptoms akin to AES. Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 Lakh each to families of the children who died due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Muzaffarpur.
