The dusty roads to the orchards are abuzz with activity. It is the peak plucking season, as is evidenced by a dozen or more trucks standing in wait to load the thousands of cartons of the magical fruit, lychee. The fruit is grown in abundance in Muzaffarpur, called the lychee bowl of India. 32000 hectare produced 300000 tones of lychees in Bihar in 2017.
The much devoured seasonal fruit, however, suffers severely, accused of causing a dreaded Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), colloquially called ‘Chamki Bhukar,’ or seizure illness. 1028 cases of AES were reported in 2014 and 390 in 2015. However, in 2016, only 1 case was reported and 9 in 2017. Doctors attribute higher cases of AES during temperatures exceeding 38 deg Celsius with humidity with 68-85 per cent humidity.
The Indian medical researchers also attribute the AES to Methylene Cycloprine-glycine (MCPG), a toxic phytochemical found in the lychee fruit. MCPG could cause hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, a metabolic illness that affects the brain when body sugar levels are low due to fasting or undernourishment.
Such cases of AES have been earlier reported from the lychee growing areas of Bangladesh and Vietnam. The studies there showed that the children who ate lychees during the day, often skipped dinner, causing hypoglycaemia, and they falling ill the next morning with severe symptoms of high fever, brain function derangement and seizures.
The Americal Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, investigating the death of 12 children in May-June 2012 in Dinajpur District of Bangladesh, reported the causes to the excessive use of several insecticides such as Endosulfan, cypermethrin, alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin etc. The farmers were illiterate, and the bottles of insecticide and pesticides often did not bear any label at all.
However, not all medical professionals are convinced that lychees are the cause of deaths.
The deaths from AES is not new and have been reported over the last few years during the lychee season. Political inferences by leaders that the blame on the fruit is spread by the jealous competitors like China, who too vie for a share of the export market is pathetic.
The real villain could be malnourished children, who alone are the victims and not those who are relatively well-off and resultantly healthier.
Meanwhile, the crimson-pink bunches of lychees beckon more innocents and eventual deaths, 170 and more this season!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
