BANJUL (Reuters) – Gambia on Tuesday ordered importers and shops to suspend sales of all brands of paracetamol syrup while the government investigates a suspected link between the medicine and the deaths of dozens of young children.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday, the head of the West African country\u2019s health service said it had launched the probe after a spike in cases of acute kidney injury among children under the age of five was detected in late July.<\/p>\n
The medicines regulator, known as the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), said there was insufficient data to warrant a general ban on paracetamol syrups, a painkiller often used to treat fevers in children.<\/p>\n
The children suffered symptoms including an inability to pass urine, fever and vomiting that quickly led to kidney failure.<\/p>\n
It did not name any specific brands, but said some samples had been sent abroad for quality control testing.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n