Indonesia Child Deaths Blamed On Syrups Rise To 133

The 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.

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Indonesia says child deaths from acute kidney injury rise to 133

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday that child deaths caused by acute kidney injury (AKI) in the country have risen to 133 from the previously reported 99.

The deaths come from a total of 241 cases in 22 provinces, the minister said.

Indonesia has formed an expert team to look into the AKI spike among children, comprised of local health and paediatric officials and World Health Organisation (WHO) representatives.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) ordered three drug manufacturers to withdraw five brands of fever, cough and flu syrups from circulation and destroy the stocks, following its finding that they contained ethylene glycol in an amount that exceeds the safe limit.

However, it noted that the result still does not lead to a conclusion that these products are causing the acute kidney injuries and that apart from drug use, other factors, such as viral and bacterial infections, may have contributed to the injuries.

Ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol were found in the four Indian-made cough syrups that caused the deaths of nearly 70 children in Gambia. Both substances are usually added as solubility enhancers in cough syrups.

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Indonesia says child deaths from acute kidney injury rise to 133

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s health minister said on Friday that the number of children who had died from acute kidney injury (AKI) rose to 133 from the previously reported 99.

The deaths were among a total of 241 cases in 22 provinces, Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, adding that most patients were children under the age of five.

Budi on Thursday said some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia contained ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, ingredients that have been linked to fatal AKI in children.

Indonesia has temporarily banned sales and prescription of all syrup-based medications and formed an expert team comprised of local health and paediatrics officials and World Health Organization (WHO) representatives to look into the AKI spike among children.

The country’s food and drug agency has also named five locally-made products which contained excessive levels of ethylene glycol and has ordered the producers to pull them out of circulation and destroy all remaining batches.