Shocking! Lychees Claim 48 Innocent Lives in Bihar - Know How!

The consumption of unripe litchis (lychees) is said to be responsible for the death of 48 children in Muzaffarpur, which is one of the leading districts producing litchi in Bihar. These children consumed litchi on an empty stomach. The authorities concluded that litchi consumption can be directly related to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome AES. 

As per the officials, Eating unripe litchis on an empty stomach may be the reason for outbreaks of high fever followed by disorientation and seizures in Bihar. It is said that the consumption of this fruit in its unripe form is the reason for the death in young children from socio-economic backgrounds in rural Muzaffarpur and other litchi-growing regions in India during the harvest season in May and June.

What Is AES?

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), a brain disease, is a group of clinically similar neurological manifestation caused by several different viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungus, toxins, etc. It is characterized by an acute onset of fever and clinical neurological manifestation that includes mental confusion, delirium, coma, or disorientation. The effects of AES are mostly seen in children and young adults. It begins with high fever and then hampers neurological functions causing confusion and seizure. 

How do lychees cause it?

Unripe fruit contains the toxins hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine, which can cause vomiting if ingested in large quantities. Hypoglycin A is a naturally occurring amino acid found in the unripened litchi that causes vomiting. On the other hand, methylenecyclopropylglycine is a poisonous compound in litchi seeds that causes a sudden drop of blood sugar and altered mental states leading to lethargy, unconsciousness, coma, or death. 

These toxins cause sudden high fever and seizures, which may require immediate hospitalisation in young and severely malnourished children. Apparently, most of the children who succumbed to death because of these toxins were also malnourished.

Treatment of AES:

Not many researches have come up with a proper treatment of this disease. 

The government and non-government organisations, however, have started providing proper nutrition to the AES-affected population. This is because most of the affected people belong to the lower economic strata of the society.

AES is hard to tackle. The wide range of causal agents and the rapid rate of neurological impairment due to pathogenesis, clinicians face the challenge of a small window period between diagnosis and treatment.

Prevention:

Lychee is a safe fruit but it is advisable that no one should eat large amounts of unripe litchis on an empty stomach.