Cases of acute kidney injury spark anxiety among parents in Indonesia
The deaths of more than 150 children in Indonesia have sparked concern among parents over the safety of drugs sold in one of the world’s most populous nations.
Last week, the Indonesian Ministry of Health imposed a blanket ban on all syrup medications, suspecting that some had been tainted with diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol.
The two substances, used for antifreeze and other industrial applications, have been blamed for the rise in the number of acute kidney injury (AKI) cases among children.
At least five products have been found to have unsafe levels of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, the Indonesian Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) announced on Oct 20.
These medicines, which include three fever syrups and two cough syrups, were subsequently recalled by their respective manufacturers.
Although Indonesian officials later declared 133 other syrup products to be safe for consumption, last week’s ban has left many parents feeling anxious.
“I immediately threw away all my syrup medicines. I didn’t care if they were among the five (which were recalled) or not. I just threw them all away,” Lenny Kurniawati, a 35-year-old mother of two, said.
Another mother of two, Citra Dewi, 34 went even further.
“I threw away all my medicines, syrups, tablets, everything. How can we absolutely be sure if they are safe or not? I am not taking any chances,” she said.
Mdm Dewi said she will not give any medicines to her children, at least for now. Instead, she intends to use a cold compress if a family member has a fever, or resort to herbal remedies if they catch a cold.
“We bought these medicines because the government said they were safe.
The fact that the government later admitted that some were not safe really shattered my confidence in how drug safety is assessed and monitored here (in Indonesia),” she said.
“I won’t be giving any medication to my children unless they are really ill.”
Unlike Mdm Dewi however, Mdm Kurniawati said she still has some confidence in medications prescribed by doctors.
“It is a difficult time to be a parent in Indonesia. On one hand, we are still in a pandemic. We are also entering the rainy season when people are more prone to getting sick. But on the other hand, you cannot be 100 per cent sure what medication is safe to consume,” she said.
The Indonesian health ministry said on Thursday (Oct 27) that more than 260 children, some as young as six months old, have been diagnosed with AKI.
Out of this group, 157 died from the illness. The majority of those who died were under the age of five.
“Sixty-one per cent of patients were already in the third stage of kidney failure. Their body produced no urine because the kidney has already failed to perform its metabolism function,” Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Syahril told a press conference on Thursday, adding that this was the reason why many have died from the illness.
An expert expressed worry that this might be the tip of the iceberg, with more cases going unreported in the vast archipelago.