Indonesia Reports 99 Child Deaths from Kidney Failure in 10 Months

Maria Fatima Bona
October 19, 2022 | 2:54 pm
SHARE
File photo: A pediatrician greets a child patient at a hospital in Menteng, Central Jakarta on June 23, 2020. (JG Photo/Yudha Baskoro)
File photo: A pediatrician greets a child patient at a hospital in Menteng, Central Jakarta on June 23, 2020. (JG Photo/Yudha Baskoro)

Jakarta. Indonesia has recorded 206 cases of atypical progressive acute kidney injury, including 99 deaths, among children aged five or younger during the past ten months.

Those cases were recorded by health departments from 20 provinces, Health Ministry spokesman M. Syahril said on Wednesday.

His remarks came hours after the ministry published a temporary ban on the sales of non-prescription liquid drugs, amid reports of the deaths of dozens of young children in The Gambia allegedly because of paracetamol syrup.

“There has been a surge in cases since late August that caught our attention. We call it atypical progressive acute kidney injury,” Syahril said at a press conference in Jakarta.

Advertisement

The government in particular is very concerned about the high fatality rate which reaches 48 percent, he added.

“The fatality rate among those patients at RSCM alone, which has been designated as the national referral hospital for kidney problems, reached 65 percent,” the spokesman said, referring to Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

Syahril said the government cannot immediately confirm if the rising number of cases of kidney failures among children has links to the consumption of paracetamol syrup or other liquid drugs, adding that an investigation is underway.

A day earlier, Indonesian Pediatricians Association (IDAI) chairman Piprim Basarah Yanuarso said the association has received nearly 200 cases of “mysterious kidney problems” among children in 20 provinces in the January-October period.

Jakarta contributed more than a quarter of the overall number, he said.

There are other probable causes for recent kidney problems among children, including one association with Covid-19 called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), Piprim said.

MIS-C is a condition where different body parts such as kidneys become inflamed due to Covid-19.

The IDAI cannot draw a conclusive answer if paracetamol syrup is the culprit behind the surge in kidney problems among children, he said.

According to Piprim, the association received information that a mother in Yogyakarta gave paracetamol syrup to her four children suffering from a cold and all of them recovered without unwanted side effects.

"But her seven-month-old baby died from acute kidney failure without taking any medication," Piprim said.

However, taking lessons from what’s happening in The Gambia, the association recommended a temporary ban on liquid drugs, he said.

Tags: Keywords:
SHARE

The Latest


News 5 hours ago

Iranian Missile Strikes Show Israel's Aerial Defense Array Is Not Ironclad

Too many projectiles launched at once can overwhelm the system, which relies on technology and human decision-making to be effective.
Business 5 hours ago

Russia Ready to Boost Oil Supplies to Indonesia, Putin Tells Prabowo

Putin tells Prabowo that Russia is ready to ramp up oil and LNG supplies to Indonesia.
Business 5 hours ago

Indonesia’s Bumi Resources to Acquire Australian Gold and Copper Miner Wolfram Limited

The acquisition is Bumi's strategic move to expand into critical minerals amid growing global demand for green energy transition metals.
Business 6 hours ago

Morowali Industrial Park Pledges Reforms After Environmental Warning from Minister

Despite the setback, Dedy stressed that IMIP uses advanced technology to reduce emissions from its nickel smelters.
Business 7 hours ago

Russia's Economy Minister Says the Country Is on 'The Brink of Recession'

High defense spending has propelled growth and kept unemployment low in Russia despite fueling inflation.
COPYRIGHT © 2025 JAKARTA GLOBE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED