WHO says contaminated cough syrup sold in Cameroon
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[July 20, 2023]
(Reuters) -The World Health Organization on Wednesday said a
batch of cough and cold syrup sold in Cameroon under the brand name
Naturcold contained extremely high levels of a toxic ingredient, the
latest in a series of recent warnings about contaminated cough syrups.
The packaging label on the syrup showed it was manufactured by a company
called Fraken International (England), but the UK health regulator said
no such company exists in the country, the WHO said.
"Enquiries are still underway to determine the origin of the product,"
WHO said. A spokesperson told Reuters that the syrup may be on sale in
other countries as well as Cameroon, which prompted its global alert
calling for more surveillance.
In 2022, more than 300 children - mainly aged under five - in Gambia,
Indonesia and Uzbekistan died of acute kidney injury, in deaths
associated with similar products made by other manufacturers. The WHO
has said the threat is ongoing.
The alert in Cameroon follows the country's health regulator saying in
April that it was investigating the deaths of six children linked to
Naturcold. The WHO had told Reuters it was supporting the authorities
there.
The acceptable limit for diethylene glycol, the contaminant found in the
syrup, is no more than 0.1%, according to the WHO, but the Naturcold
batch had syrups that contained as much as 28.6% of the substance.
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![](../images/072023PIX/health49.jpg)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) logo
is seen near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2,
2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Jul/22/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png) Unscrupulous actors sometimes
substitute propylene glycol, an ingredient used in the syrups, with
cheaper but toxic alternatives like ethylene glycol and diethylene
glycol, several pharmaceutical manufacturing experts have told
Reuters.
The contaminants can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, an
altered mental state and acute kidney injury, among other symptoms,
which may eventually lead to death, they said.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru and Jennifer Rigby in
LondonAdditional reporting by Bhanvi Satija in BengaluruEditing by
Pooja Desai and Matthew Lewis)
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