India probes possible cough syrup link to deaths of nine children

Indian authorities said on Saturday they are investigating if contaminated cough syrup caused the deaths of nine children in a central state of India, after a batch of the medication was found to contain dangerous levels of a toxic chemical.

The Health Ministry said samples of Coldrif Cough Syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharma in the southern state of India, Tamil Nadu, were tested by state authorities and found to contain diethylene glycol (DEG) exceeding permissible limits.

“The samples are found to contain DEG beyond the permissible limit,” the ministry said in a statement.

DEG, a toxic solvent used in industrial products, has been linked to fatal poisoning in several countries.

The statement comes after media reports suggested that recent deaths of nine children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh could have been linked to cough syrup consumption.

The Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration (MPFDA) also analysed three of 13 samples collected, which were found free of contamination, the ministry statement said.

However, Tamil Nadu’s drug regulator later confirmed DEG contamination in samples taken directly from Sresan Pharma’s manufacturing site in Kanchipuram, it said.

Sresan Pharma did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email.

Authorities have launched inspections of 19 drug manufacturers across six states to identify quality control lapses and recommend improvements to prevent future incidents, the ministry said.

India has faced scrutiny over the quality of its pharmaceutical exports after the World Health Organization linked cough syrups made by another company to the deaths of 70 children in Gambia in 2022  a finding that New Delhi later disputed.

Also Read: India health alert after ‘brain-eating’ amoeba rise

In another news, India has issued a health alert after infections and deaths caused by a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba doubled compared to last year in the southern state of Kerala.

Numbers are still tiny but Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to arrest the spread, told AFP that officials were “conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases”.

Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.

Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it is often called a “brain-eating amoeba” because it can “infect the brain and destroy brain tissue”.

If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 percent of those affected.

Infections are “very rare but nearly always fatal”, the CDC notes.

The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.