Bihar

Conjoined twins Saba, Farah in critical condition in Bihar

The conjoined twins, Saba and Farah in Bihar are said to be in critical condition and have been admitted to a leading hospital in Patna.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had ordered the Bihar government to look after their medical expenses and provide all kinds of financial help to the family. The twins share a vital blood vessel in the brain. While Farah has two kidneys, Saba has none.

The family of Saba and Farah were provided financial aid after they had rejected surgery to separate the two of them in the absence of funds.

Dr Shyam Sundar, who has been treating the twins said that the twins have been facing complications from the past few days. “Farah has been bleeding from the nose from the past five days with some respiratory tract infection and the blood pressure of both the twins is low. We are still evaluating the cause of the bleeding and a multi speciality team is having a look”, he said.

In case, an operation is being carried out to separate the head, it would prove to be a real medical challenge ,according to Doctor Sundar.

Source: Zee news

45 deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis in UP, Bihar in 2013

A total of 45 deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) have been reported from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during this year, parliament was told Tuesday .

All the deaths have been in eastern UP, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

He said while the two eastern UP districts of Gorakhpur and Basti reported 277 cases, 14 were reported from Bihar.

JE is a mosquito-borne disease, the symptoms of which include fever, headache and convulsions. It has a high mortality rate among children.

Azad said a national programme for prevention and control of JE was started with a multi-pronged strategy in 60 high endemic districts of five states, including UP and Bihar.

Some of the aims of the programme were strengthening and expansion of JE vaccination in affected districts, strengthening of surveillance, vector control, access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to the target population in affected areas, he said.

During the current year, an amount of Rs.346.9 million and Rs.603.83 million is allocated to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively for controlling the disease, he added.

Source: News track India

Ali Hussain – a 14 year old with 110 year old body

The fourteen year old boy from Bihar suffers from the rare disorder which causes rapid ageing

A boy born with the appearance and physical maladies of an old man – the story sounds familiar. After all most of us have seen `The curious case of Benjamin Button`, a film in 2008 which is loosely based on F Scott Fitzgerald`s 1922 short story of the same name, said to be one of the earliest literary pieces to have highlighted progeria, an extremely rare genetic disease characterized by rapid ageing.
The condition was highlighted by R Balakrishnan in the 2009 Bollywood film `Paa` with Amitabh Bachchan as the lead protagonist diagnosed with the disorder.

Kids born with this rare genetic disorder have dramatically tougher lives.

Ali Hussain Khan`s story is no different. The fourteen year old teenager from Bihar suffers from the rare disorder which causes rapid ageing and is known to affect just 80 people worldwide.

Ali, whose body ages eight times faster than normal, has seen five of his siblings die from the same genetic condition.

Ali’s parents Nabi Hussain Khan, 50, and Razia, 46, are first cousins and have had eight children in total. Only two of the girls out of eight were born healthy.

Progeria or Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disease wherein symptoms resembling aspects of ageing are manifested at a very early age. The disorder has a very low incident rate, occurring in an estimated 1 per 8 million live births. Children born with the rare disorder live only till their mid teens and early twenties.

Children with progeria usually develop the first symptoms during their first few months, characterized by changes in skin, abnormal growth and loss of hair. There has been no significant breakthrough in the treatment of this disease or reversing the symptoms of aging.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/diseases/the-curious-case-of-ali-hussain-a-14-year-old-with-110-year-old-body_23587.html