A few weeks after a selected committee of The Gambia National Assembly, declared that the demise of 70 children due to acute kidney injury (AKI) were connected to intake of 4 contaminated syrups manufactured by India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals,  the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on Friday stating contaminated syrup is imported to The Gambia which further led to the cluster of AKI and death in children.

“This investigation strongly suggests that medications contaminated with DEG (diethylene glycol) or EG (ethylene glycol) imported into The Gambia led to this AKI cluster among children,” the report further stated. CDC scientists inquire into the matter on a request from The Gambia’s Ministry of Health. The document is based on medical records of children and interviews with caregivers of those who died of AKI. In addition to the assimilated information, the report said the previous examine of the medicines  through the WHO which  supported the cause of cluster of AKI cases. 80 children were alleged to have suffered from AKI in The Gambia between June and November of last year. Out of which 70 died.

The conclusion of the CDC report based on interviews with 26 caregivers who said that the children had consumed at least one syrup-based medication and further stated that these deaths were linked with the syrups. Further, before being hospitalised, 12 children had even consumed four or more medications. Only 14 of the 26 caregivers remember the names of the medications while eight of them stating that syrup by Maiden was in usage. India further stated that sufficient evidences were not provided by The Gambia or WHO to generate a link between the deaths and the Indian syrups. The control samples were of standard quality by the Indian drug regulator.