The children suffered symptoms including an inability to pass urine, a fever and vomiting that quickly led to kidney failure.
By Adesuwa Tsan
365Daily – Following the deaths of dozens of children who took paracetamol syrup in the Gambia, the government has ordered importers and shops to suspend sales of all brands of the medicine in the country.
The Gambia health service last Thursday disclosed that it had begun an investigation into rising cases of acute kidney injury among children under the age of five which was detected in late July.
Known as the Medicines Control Agency, the medicines regulator further said there was insufficient data to warrant a general ban on paracetamol syrups, a painkiller often used to treat fevers in children.
The children suffered symptoms including an inability to pass urine, a fever and vomiting that quickly led to kidney failure.
It did not name any specific brands, but said some samples had been sent abroad for quality-control testing.
Last week, World Health Organisation officials said the evidence pointed not to paracetamol but to an infectious origin such as polluted water, but emphasised there were many unanswered questions.
(With reports from Reuters)