LAGOS, Nigeria — Health workers hunted down errant bottles of a poisonous teething formula Friday as the government reported that 84 infants and children have died after swallowing a syrup laced with a chemical normally found in antifreeze.
The children were stricken with fever, convulsions, diarrhea and vomiting, and were unable to urinate after being given the My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture.
The dead ranged from 2 months to 7 years old, the Health Ministry said, adding that at least 111 children in all have been sickened since the tainted batch hit store shelves in mid-November.
“The death of any Nigerian child is a great loss to the nation,” Health Minister Babatunde Oshotimehin said in a statement. “The federal Ministry of Health sincerely regrets this painful incidence and sympathizes with the nation and the families.”
Health officials said in early December that 34 children had died and stores were returning stocks of the formula meant to stop teething pain.
Health workers were now pressing to collect already-purchased bottles of the sweet-tasting medicine, said Marshal Gundu, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health. He said that parents of the affected children were being interviewed and that an epidemiological survey was underway.
Health officials said they don’t know how many bottles of the bad formula were made in the country or remain in circulation, so it was not clear whether the death toll could rise.
Many bottles of the paracetemol-based formula made by Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. were found to have a high concentration of diethylene glycol, a chemical commonly found in antifreeze and brake fluid and sometimes used illegally as a cheaper alternative to glycerin, which thickens toothpaste.
Exposure can cause kidney and liver damage and may be fatal.
It was unclear whether any of the teething formula had been shipped overseas, but most products made in Nigeria are designed for domestic sale in Africa’s largest market.
