MP: 3 More Children Die of Kidney Failure, 2 Cough Syrups Banned

Bhopal: Three more children in the parasia area in Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh have succumbed to kidney failure over the last 72 hours due to suspected consumption of particular brands of cough syrups, taking the toll to nine, officials said on Friday.

Parasia sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Shubham Yadav said that a total of nine kids have so far succumbed to kidney failure in the region.

The administration is alert to the situation, and a special screening drive has been launched in the district to detect such cases, he said.

According to him, screening of 4,658 children has already been done in the district and reports of 4,411 of them have been received.

Expert teams from the Centre as well as the state have started a probe to find out the cause of death of the children, sources said.

According to the Chhindwara district collector, Coldrif and Nextro DS have temporarily been banned as precautionary measures since six out of nine children who died of kidney failure were found to have consumed these syrups. Samples of the two cough syrups have been sent for examination, and a final decision on the ban on these cough syrups will be taken after the probe.

Teams from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and state-level Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) have begun separate probes into the matter.

Sources said that the state health department is planning to write to the states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh to ensure that production by manufacturers of the two particular brands of cough syrups is stopped.