Over seventy children have lost their lives due to acute kidney failure so far this year in Indonesiaa Health Ministry official revealed today in Jakarta, as a team of experts has begun to conduct an investigation into the rapid increase in cases of children with severe nerve damage in the country.
The figure comes shortly after authorities in The Gambia reported nearly seventy deaths of children who were given paracetamol syrup for coughs and runny noses.
The World Health Organization (WHO) found that four syrups from the Indian company Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltdbased in New Delhi, which sold in Zambia contained “unacceptably” high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycolsubstances used as antifreezes and their ingestion can cause death.
Although officials from Indonesia’s food agency assured that the products were not available in the Southeast Asian country’s market, they later announced that they were banning the use of the ingredients in question in all medicated syrups for children.
According to Siti Nadia Tarmizi, an official of the Ministry of Health, since January 189 cases of acute kidney failure in children have been recorded in the country. In the majority of them, they were under the age of five. 74 of them died.
“We haven’t found the cause yet, we are investigating,” the official said. to the Reuters news agency, as relayed by the Athens News Agency.
Last week, Indonesian health authorities announced that a panel of experts had been set up to investigate the rapidly increasing cases of severe kidney damage and acute kidney failure in children. The echelon is made up of officials from the Ministry of Health, the Pediatric Association and the WHO.
The Ministry of Health says it is in contact with the Agency’s experts investigating the incidents in Gambia.
In a letter from the ministry dated yesterday (Tuesday, October 18) obtained by Reuters, it is ordered to collect samples from hospitals of all the preparations that the families gave their children, in order to carry out urgent toxicology tests.
In the letter, the ministry says that the sale of all syrups for children will be suspended until further notice.
The Ministry of Health is expected to release more details later today.
Source: News Beast
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