The number of children who have died of acute kidney failure in Indonesia has risen to 133, the health minister announced on Friday (October 21st), who attributed this increase to harmful substances contained in medical syrups. Indonesian authorities opened an investigation and banned the sale and prescription of these substances on Wednesday after the rise in cases of acute kidney failure. “We have identified 241 cases of acute renal failure in 22 provinces, with 133 deaths”Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at a press conference.
Health authorities have found traces of harmful chemicals in children being treated for acute kidney failure. “Seven out of eleven children had these harmful substances: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol butyl ether”, he added. The cases have been confirmed to have been caused by these substances, he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in early October that it had found “unacceptable amounts” of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in four Indian cough syrups suspected to be the cause of the deaths of nearly 70 children in The Gambia from acute kidney failure.
Indonesian authorities found traces of similar substances in 102 syrups at the homes of sick children, Budi said. The ban on prescriptions and the sale of syrups will be extended to these products. Most of the cases are children under the age of 5, according to the ministry. The condition of some young patients improved after the administration of an antidote imported from Singapore, the minister said.