Indonesia bans cough syrup after 99 children die of kidney injuries

Indonesia has halted sales of medicinal syrup after 99 children died of acute kidney injuries this year.

The ban will remain until the health ministry completes an investigation into the cause of the illness, with 206 cases recorded so far in mostly children under six years old, Bloomberg reported.

Authorities are looking into the potential toxicity of ingredients used in the liquid drugs.

“To protect our children, who are most heavily affected by this, we decided to issue this policy,” said Health Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril in a statement late Wednesday. Cases have been surging since late August, he added.

The World Health Organization has warned that a deadly batch of cough syrups linked to deaths in Gambia could have been distributed to other countries.

The liquid drugs made by India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd. aren’t licensed to be sold in Indonesia, and the country has banned the contaminants found in the Gambia cases, bloomberg reported.

But the local food and drug agency warned that the contaminants might be found in glycerin or propylene glycol, which are solvents used in syrup-based medicines.

The government found that 15 out of 18 liquid paracetamol and other syrup medicines it tested contain ethylene glycol as a dissolving agent, which could be toxic, according to Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono.