AT LEAST 84 children have died in Nigeria after being given a teething mixture contaminated with the chemical diethylene glycol, which is normally used in brake fluid as an antifreeze.
My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture was launched in early November, purportedly as a paracetamol syrup to treat teething pains. But the product was contaminated with the chemical, causing liver and kidney failure in the babies and children given it, the country’s health ministry said. About 111 children aged between two months and seven years became ill and 75 per cent of them died.
The Nigerian manufacturer has been closed down by the country’s food and drugs agency, Nafdac, which has ordered all drug distribution outlets to hand over stocks. Dora Akunyili, Nafdac’s director general, described the situation as a public health emergency and called on all health organisations to co-operate to help remove the teething mixture from circulation.
“The death of any Nigerian child is a great loss to the nation,” said Babatunde Oshotimehin, the country’s health minister.
“The federal ministry of health sincerely regrets this painful incident and sympathises with the nation and the families directly affected.”
Nafdac said staff of the mixture’s Lagos-based manufacturer, Barewa Pharmaceuticals, bought ingredients from an unregistered chemical dealer in a slum near the city’s main tip.
Officials say Barewa appears to have been told it was buying propylene glycol, a normal ingredient in teething formula. It is not known how many of the contaminated bottles were sold. Several people, including Barewa staff, are under arrest. – (Guardian service)