The number of children who died from what is thought to be drug poisoning in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has doubled to 12. However, a fresh mystery has arisen over what caused the deaths. This is because initial lab tests done by central government agencies on the cough syrup samples detected no signs of diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol (EG), two industrial chemicals that are known to cause acute kidney impairment.
Nine children have died in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district since early September. This is up from six deaths recorded earlier this week. Three more kids have perished in Rajasthan.
Different lab results lead to an investigation by multiple disciplines
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement that lab tests on cough syrup samples taken from Chhindwara found no DEG or EG pollutants. This goes against earlier biopsy tests that Chhindwara district collector Sheelendra Singh highlighted, which had first claimed that the children’s kidney tissue examination pointed to DEG contamination in the cough syrup they drank.
It is important to highlight that the study of larger batches of the cough syrup in question is still not finished.
A team of experts from several fields is looking into other possible reasons, such as contaminated water, disease vectors, and respiratory diseases, since the presumed cause is now in doubt. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Institute of Virology (NIV), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), AIIMS Nagpur, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), and state authorities are all part of this team.
Leptospirosis Found: The NIV in Pune found Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can cause serious illness and destroy organs, in the blood of one child.
Laboratories, such as the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and NIV Pune, are currently looking into samples of water, insects, and respiratory specimens.
Testing goes on and people are still going to the hospital.
On Friday, DK Maurya, the drug controller for Madhya Pradesh, said that the tests for antibacterial medications and paracetamol came back clear. On Saturday, we should have results for two brands of cough syrup: Coldrif and Nexa/NEXTRO-DS.
Maurya said, “We sent 13 medicines for testing, including two cough syrups, after biopsy reports raised concerns about kidney failure caused by diethylene glycol.”
The Madhya Pradesh State Food and Drug Administration analyzed three samples on their own and also found that there was no DEG or EG.
At the moment, 13 youngsters are still in the hospital in Nagpur, and four of them are said to be in bad condition. All of the sick kids had the same symptoms: they first had a fever and a cold, and then they had trouble peeing. Health officials have checked 1,400 kids and are checking about 120 kids every day to find and treat such cases as soon as possible.
Cases and manufacturers are being looked into.
On September 4, the first death in Chhindwara happened. Yasin Khan, a parent who lost his kid, told how he sold his car to attempt to save his child, who died two weeks after getting a fever. Afreen Khan, another parent, talked about how quickly her five-year-old son Adnan got worse after getting a fever in August. He died immediately after getting an injection.
The first investigations found that the victims had taken two cough syrups:
Coldrif: Made by a firm in Tamil Nadu over the past 20 years.
Nexa/NEXTRO-DS: Made in Himachal Pradesh for the last 18 months.
Deaths in Rajasthan Related to Use Without Supervision
The health ministry in Rajasthan, where three children have died, said that the Dextromethorphan HBr Syrup related to two of the deaths did not include propylene glycol, which could have been a source of DEG/EG. The ministry did, however, give a strong caution that the medicine is a dextromethorphan-based formulation, “which is not recommended for use in children.”
Nityansh, who was two years old, died in Sikar after being given leftover dextromethorphan syrup at home.
Samrat in Bharatpur died on September 22 after ingesting cough syrup while he was very sick with pneumonia.
The third death in Rajasthan, which was reported on Friday, is still being looked into. Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar said that the department had nothing to do with the deaths because the drugs were not prescribed by government hospitals and the department has “no role in it” if the medicine is obtained and supplied without a prescription.
In a scenario that didn’t make sense, a parent in Bharatpur said that a doctor at the Community Health Centre gave his two sons cough medication. Bablu Prasad Sharma, the head of the center, said that the cough syrup had previously been prohibited and that the cause of death would be looked into to see if the banned substance was given.
Advisory on Health Issued
The Directorate General of Health Services sent out a warning after the disaster, telling people not to give cough syrups meant for adults to youngsters. The recommendation said that most acute cough diseases in kids go away on their own and should not be given to kids under two years old.