At least 129 children have now died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the town of Muzaffarpur in the eastern Indian state of Bihar since an outbreak earlier this month, a medical official said on Sunday.
The death toll from AES, a fever that affects the central nervous system, has risen from 97 reported last Monday and medical and government officials are facing mounting criticism for struggling to contain the crisis in the town of nearly 350,000 people.
AES, known as "brain fever," is caused by any one of a number of viruses. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting and, in severe cases, seizures, paralysis and coma. Infants and elderly people are particularly vulnerable.