BHOPAL: Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district have issued an advisory restricting the prescription, sale, and use of at least two cough syrups after six children, aged one to seven, reportedly died between September 4 and 26 from kidney-related complications and anuria.
Analysis of the medicines administered to the six minors found two cough syrups in common. With samples of the syrups sent for detailed testing, the district administration has advised doctors to refrain from prescribing them and has restricted their sale and use.
“Till the time test reports of the syrup samples are out, an advisory has been issued to restrain the use, sale and prescription of those syrups. Doctors in the district have also been advised strictly to prescribe only symptom-specific medicines, like prescribing just Paracetamol for fever, instead of prescribing a wide spectrum of medicines, including those for cough and cold,” Chhindwara district collector Sheelendra Singh told TNIE on Wednesday.
The six children, aged between one and seven, from different parts of the Parasia area (also known as Koylanchal for its coal mining activity), initially suffered from cold and mild fever. Local doctors prescribed routine medications, including cough syrups.
After taking the medicines, the children initially appeared to recover, but within days their symptoms returned, accompanied by a sharp decline in urine output.
Most of the children who later died from kidney-related complications were admitted to private hospitals in nearby Nagpur, Maharashtra.
“The children only had mild fever and cold, but after the cough syrup was administered to them, their condition worsened, resulting in the stoppage of urine and associated complications, like swelling in the body, regular bouts of vomiting, ultimately resulting in deaths,” one of the grieving parents said.
Chhindwara district chief medical and health officer Naresh Gonare said, “The blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of the minors who died in hospitals at Nagpur, were sent for virology tests. But the tests didn’t reveal any vector-borne/viral ailment, like Japanese Encephalitis or Chandipura virus. Anuria (alarming decline in urine output caused by kidney malfunction) seemed to be the common problem in all six kids who died.”
Suspicion of toxicity and contamination in the cough syrups subsequently arose, prompting authorities to send samples to Bhopal for detailed analysis, official sources said.
Unconfirmed reports indicate kidney biopsies of the deceased children revealed the presence of diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical often linked to pharmaceutical poisoning. Water samples from affected areas are also being sent to a national-level testing laboratory for analysis.
Teams from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are in Chhindwara to investigate the deaths, which may be linked to contaminated cough syrups.
“Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) of the state health department are also conducting door-to-door screening and surveillance of residents for similar health problems. No new case has been reported in the last 24 hours from anywhere,” the Chhindwara district collector said.
The ICMR team has sent samples from the children and the medicines to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for further analysis.