Muzaffarpur, Jun 22 : Three more children have died due to a mysterious fever in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, taking the toll to 42.
A Central team, meanwhile, took blood samples of the patients to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
Two children died at Kejriwal Hospital here, while another died at Srikrishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH) here since yesterday, official sources said.
15 children were still undergoing treatment at the two hospitals, they said.
A seven-member Central team from National Institute of Virology, Pune and ICMI, New Delhi, comprising of experts including Union Health Ministry Joint Director S K Jain, B R Thappa and I P Choudhary visited the SKMCH this morning and took the blood samples of children affected by the disease.
Jain said the blood samples would be sent to specialised virology labs in Pune and New Delhi and the examination report would be made available within a fortnight.
He said the team had advised the SKMCH authorities to shift the children afflicted with the disease to air-conditioned ward of the hospital.
Asked if the children were suffering from encephalitis, he said, “We won't be able to tell you at present”.
At least 29 children below the age of six years have died and 35 others hospitalised due to the mystery fever during the past one week in Muzaffarpur district, officials said, adding 30 others were still being treated at the two hospitals.
The Central team also visited the affected villages and enquired about the food habits of the affected children from their guardians besides inspecting the surroundings.
Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad sent the Central team of medical experts from Pune and New Delhi to Muzaffarpur following request from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to examine the patients and work out ways to prevent the spread of unknown fever. PTI
