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Child deaths blamed on syrups in Indonesia rise to 133
Indonesia saw a spike in acute kidney injury (AKI) cases this year, prompting a probe and ban on all syrup and liquid medicine prescriptions and sales.
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A Pakistani health official holds a bottle of toxic cough syrup at a hospital in Lahore on November 26, 2012. At least 16 people have died after drinking a toxic cough syrup in the Pakistani city of Lahore, forcing authorities to close three pharmacies and a medicine factory, officials said. (AFP/Arif Ali)
T
he number of child deaths from acute kidney injuries in Indonesia has risen to 133, the health minister said Friday, attributing the fatalities to harmful substances found in medicinal syrups.
Indonesia saw a spike in acute kidney injury (AKI) cases this year, prompting a probe and ban on all syrup and liquid medicine prescriptions and sales.
"We have identified 241 cases of acute kidney injury in 22 provinces, with 133 fatalities," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a press conference.
Budi said authorities found traces of harmful substances in children being treated for AKI.
"Seven out of 11 children had that harmful substance: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol butyl ether.
"It is confirmed that (AKI) was caused by (those) substances."
The World Health Organization said this month that it found an "unacceptable amount" of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in four Indian-made cough syrups that were linked to the deaths of nearly 70 children in The Gambia due to AKI.
Indonesian authorities found traces of similar substances in 102 syrup medicines in the homes of affected children, Budi said.
Budi said the ban on all syrup and liquid medicine prescriptions and over-the-counter sales -- announced Wednesday -- will be narrowed to those 102 products.
Most AKI cases reported in Indonesia this year involved children under five years old, according to the ministry's data.
Before the recent rise, the ministry typically saw two or five cases of AKI a month.
Budi said some AKI patients improved after health authorities trialled an antidote imported from Singapore, adding more will be procured for distribution across Indonesia.
