Indonesia bans syrup treatments after 99 children die: Due to more than 100 child deaths, syrups and liquid medicines are no longer for sale in Indonesia.
Only a few weeks ago, approximately 70 children’s deaths in The Gambia attribute to cough syrup.
According to Indonesia, acute kidney injuries (AKI), which have claimed the lives of 99 young children this year, have connected to chemicals in certain syrup medicines.
It is unclear if the medication manufactured locally or imported.
Health authorities in Indonesia recorded 200 instances of AKI in youngsters on Thursday. The majority of them were under five years old.
The WHO warned the globe last month about four cough syrups that may have killed over 70 Gambia children.
The WHO found “unacceptable amounts” of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in Indian pharmaceutical company syrups.
According to the organization, the syrups have “perhaps been related to acute renal damage.”
Indonesia’s Health Minister on Thursday, the same chemical substances also discovered in certain locally used drugs.
According to Budi Gunadi Sadikin, “Some syrups used by AKI for pediatric kids under five proved to include ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol that were not meant to there, or in tiny amounts.”
He did not say how many instances featured the dangerous drugs.
According to Indonesian officials, the cough syrups used in The Gambia were unavailable there.
One epidemiologist says that the actual number of deaths may be much higher than reported.
Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Griffith University, told BBC Indonesia that when incidents like this occur, “[all we know is] the tip of the iceberg, which implies there might be many more victims.”
Indonesian authorities have temporarily banned the sale and prescription of all syrup and liquid medicines. However, they have not yet said what brands or syrup medicines linked to sick children.