How lychees are linked to encephalitis risk in malnourished children

Indian medics say children falling ill after filling up on fruit and going to bed with no dinner

The recent deaths of more than 110 children in India from encephalitis have been attributed to natural toxins in lychees. But experts now suggest that the fruit itself may not be the cause of the illness but mainly the fact that poor children go to bed on an empty stomach after eating it.

At least 31 children have died in Bihar state from acute encephalitis syndrome, according to health officials. Angry parents of the dead children have been protesting at the Sri Krishna medical college in Muzaffarpur, the district where most of the deaths occurred.