Cough syrup row: Gambia says it has not yet confirmed syrup as cause of child deaths

Days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Indian-made cough syrup possibly caused the deaths of 70 children in Gambia, the West African nation has not yet confirmed the same, Reuters reported, quoting a representative of the country's Medicines Control Agency.

"Gambia has not yet confirmed that toxic cough syrup was the cause of the deaths of 70 children from acute kidney injury," Reuters quoted the representative as saying.

The WHO linked the cough syrups with India as they were manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceutical limited, with manufacturing plants set up in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. 

In October, the global health body also issued a medical product alert for four contaminated medicines identified in Gambia that had been linked with acute kidney injuries and 70 deaths among children.

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The small West African state has been investigating a mysterious slew of child deaths in recent months, which police said in a preliminary investigation was linked to four cough syrups made in India.

World Health Organization (WHO) investigators have found "unacceptable" levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in the products, which were made by New Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

The spike in cases of acute kidney injury among children under the age of five was detected in late July. As cases mounted, doctors began to suspect medicines could be involved, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from agency)