• Source:JND
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Madhya Pradesh News: Nine children have died in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh within 15 days, with health officials suspecting contaminated cough syrup as the cause. The victims, most of whom initially showed symptoms of cold and fever, later developed kidney failure.

Authorities said at least five children had taken Coldref syrup and one had consumed Nextro syrup before their condition worsened. Following the deaths, the state government has ordered an immediate halt to the supply of dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrups and directed urgent testing of all related batches, as per a India Today report.

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Parasia Sub-divisional Magistrate Shubham Yadav confirmed the deaths and said precautionary steps are being enforced. A list of 1,420 children with fever and flu-like symptoms is being tracked. As part of the new protocol, any child unwell for more than two days is kept under six hours of observation at Civil Hospital. If the condition deteriorates, the child is referred to the District Hospital. ASHA workers have been assigned to monitor patients after discharge.

Dr Pawan Nandurkar, Associate Professor and Head of Paediatrics, confirmed that the death toll in Chhindwara. “Recently, reports indicated that seven of our children had died, but now it appears the number has increased to nine,” he said.

He explained that the deaths and kidney injury cases are being linked to the cough syrup Coldrif, but investigations are not yet complete. “Everyone is blaming Coldrif, but it is possible the kidney injury was caused by something else altogether. The complete extent of its responsibility will become clear once the test reports are received,” Dr Nandurkar stated.

According to him, samples of the suspected syrups along with other items have been collected and sent for laboratory analysis. “The team collected samples of all items and sent them for testing. Reports are still pending,” he added.

Private doctors have been asked not to treat suspected viral cases at their clinics and must send such patients to government facilities.

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Initial investigations have ruled out waterborne and mosquito-related infections, as tests showed normal results. One sample examined by the National Institute of Virology was also negative. Water samples tested by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are still awaited.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has stepped in and collected water and drug samples from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where a similar case was recently reported in Sikar.

In Rajasthan, the state medical corporation has already banned 19 syrup batches, "the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSCL) has banned the sale and use of 19 batches of the syrup and the health department has issued advisories to parents, doctors, and medical operators to be vigilant," sources told PTI.

(With Inputs From PTI)