The Min­istry of Health has is­sued a pub­lic ad­vi­so­ry fol­low­ing an in­ter­na­tion­al alert about con­t­a­m­i­nat­ed cough syrups linked to mul­ti­ple child fa­tal­i­ties.

Ac­cord­ing to the Min­istry’s Chem­istry Food and Drugs Di­vi­sion, the World Health Or­ga­ni­za­tion (WHO) has re­port­ed that Di­eth­yl­ene Gly­col (DEG), a tox­ic sub­stance, was found in at least three oral liq­uid med­i­cines man­u­fac­tured in In­dia. The af­fect­ed prod­ucts are Coldrif by Sre­san Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals, Respifresh TR by Red­nex Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals, and Re­Life by Shape Phar­ma.

These med­i­cines are typ­i­cal­ly used to treat symp­toms of the com­mon cold, flu, or cough. How­ev­er, health au­thor­i­ties warn that DEG is poi­so­nous to hu­mans and can cause se­ri­ous and po­ten­tial­ly fa­tal ill­ness. Symp­toms of poi­son­ing may in­clude ab­dom­i­nal pain, vom­it­ing, di­ar­rhoea, headache, con­fu­sion, and kid­ney fail­ure.