Worms Found in Antibiotic Syrup at Madhya Pradesh Government Hospital Prompts Investigation

Several bottles of the antibiotic medicine have been dispatched to a Bhopal laboratory for comprehensive testing.

Gwalior:

In the wake of recent child fatalities connected to contaminated cough syrup in Madhya Pradesh, a government hospital in Gwalior is now under scrutiny following allegations of worms discovered in antibiotic medication dispensed to a child, officials confirmed on Thursday.

After receiving a complaint from a mother whose child was administered the medicine, authorities have sealed the entire inventory of Azithromycin antibiotic at the government medical facility in Morar town, Gwalior district, with samples being sent to a laboratory in Bhopal for analysis.

Azithromycin oral suspension is a widely prescribed antibiotic for treating various infections in pediatric patients.

Officials stated that the medication was a generic version manufactured by a company based in Madhya Pradesh.

Drug inspector Anubhuti Sharma reported, "A woman at the Morar government hospital reported finding worms in a bottle of Azithromycin oral suspension." Despite the medicine bottle being previously opened when presented by the woman, an immediate investigation was launched into the matter.

All 306 bottles of this antibiotic that had been both distributed and stored at the Morar hospital have been recalled and confiscated, the official confirmed.

Initial examination of several medicine bottles revealed no visible evidence of insects, but laboratory testing remains necessary for confirmation, she explained.

Multiple bottles have been forwarded to a testing facility in Bhopal. Additionally, a sample will be sent to the Central Drug Laboratory in Kolkata for further analysis, Sharma added.

Significantly, 24 children from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh have died due to suspected kidney failure attributed to consumption of adulterated Coldrif cough syrup.

This tragic situation prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue a global alert against three "substandard" oral cough syrups identified in India – Coldrif, Respifresh TR, and ReLife.