Indonesia says child deaths from acute kidney injury rise to 133

The number of children in Indonesia who have died from acute kidney injury (AKI) linked to harmful substances in medicinal syrups has risen to 133 from the previously reported 99 fatalities, the country’s health minister said.

Indonesian health authorities said this week they were investigating an unexplained rise since January in the number of children’s deaths from AKI and had temporarily banned the sales and prescription of all syrup-based medications.


The ban followed the discovery that some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia were found to contain ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, ingredients that have been linked to child death from AKI in The Gambia.