Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998
OBJECTIVE: To discover the cause of acute renal failure in 36 children aged 2 months to 6 years who were admitted to two hospitals in Delhi between 1 April and 9 June 1998. METHODS: Data were collected from hospital records, parents and doctors of the patients, and district health officials. Further...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The World Health Organization
2001-01-01
|
| Series: | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862001000200002 |
| _version_ | 1797284215071440896 |
|---|---|
| author | Singh Jagvir Dutta A.K. Khare Shashi Dubey N.K. Harit A.K. Jain N.K. Wadhwa T.C. Gupta S.R. Dhariwal A.C. Jain D.C. Bhatia Rajesh Sokhey Jotna |
| author_facet | Singh Jagvir Dutta A.K. Khare Shashi Dubey N.K. Harit A.K. Jain N.K. Wadhwa T.C. Gupta S.R. Dhariwal A.C. Jain D.C. Bhatia Rajesh Sokhey Jotna |
| author_sort | Singh Jagvir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVE: To discover the cause of acute renal failure in 36 children aged 2 months to 6 years who were admitted to two hospitals in Delhi between 1 April and 9 June 1998. METHODS: Data were collected from hospital records, parents and doctors of the patients, and district health officials. Further information was obtained from house visits and community surveys; blood and stool samples were collected from other ill children, healthy family members and community contacts. Samples of drinking-water and water from a tube-well were tested for coliform organisms. FINDINGS: Most of the children (26/36) were from the Gurgaon district in Haryana or had visited Gurgaon town for treatment of a minor illness. Acute renal failure developed after an episode of acute febrile illness with or without watery diarrhoea or mild respiratory symptoms for which the children had been treated with unknown medicines by private medical practitioners. On admission to hospital the children were not dehydrated. Median blood urea concentration was 150 mg/dl (range 79-311 mg/dl) and median serum creatinine concentration was 5.6 mg/dl (range 2.6-10.8 mg/dl). Kidney biopsy showed acute tubular necrosis. Thirty-three children were known to have died despite being treated with peritoneal dialysis and supportive therapy. CONCLUSION: Cough expectorant manufactured by a company in Gurgaon was found to be contaminated with diethylene glycol (17.5%v/v), but a sample of acetaminophen manufactured by the same company tested negative for contamination when gas-liquid chromatography was used. Thus, poisoning with diethylene glycol seems to be the cause of acute renal failure in these children. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:44:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-583a13e2418247bfa55e59e3745e3da9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0042-9686 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T17:44:49Z |
| publishDate | 2001-01-01 |
| publisher | The World Health Organization |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| spelling | doaj.art-583a13e2418247bfa55e59e3745e3da92024-03-02T15:17:14ZengThe World Health OrganizationBulletin of the World Health Organization0042-96862001-01-017928895Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998Singh JagvirDutta A.K.Khare ShashiDubey N.K.Harit A.K.Jain N.K.Wadhwa T.C.Gupta S.R.Dhariwal A.C.Jain D.C.Bhatia RajeshSokhey JotnaOBJECTIVE: To discover the cause of acute renal failure in 36 children aged 2 months to 6 years who were admitted to two hospitals in Delhi between 1 April and 9 June 1998. METHODS: Data were collected from hospital records, parents and doctors of the patients, and district health officials. Further information was obtained from house visits and community surveys; blood and stool samples were collected from other ill children, healthy family members and community contacts. Samples of drinking-water and water from a tube-well were tested for coliform organisms. FINDINGS: Most of the children (26/36) were from the Gurgaon district in Haryana or had visited Gurgaon town for treatment of a minor illness. Acute renal failure developed after an episode of acute febrile illness with or without watery diarrhoea or mild respiratory symptoms for which the children had been treated with unknown medicines by private medical practitioners. On admission to hospital the children were not dehydrated. Median blood urea concentration was 150 mg/dl (range 79-311 mg/dl) and median serum creatinine concentration was 5.6 mg/dl (range 2.6-10.8 mg/dl). Kidney biopsy showed acute tubular necrosis. Thirty-three children were known to have died despite being treated with peritoneal dialysis and supportive therapy. CONCLUSION: Cough expectorant manufactured by a company in Gurgaon was found to be contaminated with diethylene glycol (17.5%v/v), but a sample of acetaminophen manufactured by the same company tested negative for contamination when gas-liquid chromatography was used. Thus, poisoning with diethylene glycol seems to be the cause of acute renal failure in these children.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862001000200002ethylene gycols/toxicityethylene gycols/poisoningdrug contaminationexpectorants/toxicityantitussive agents/toxicitykidney failure/acutechild, preschoolinfantIndia |
| spellingShingle | Singh Jagvir Dutta A.K. Khare Shashi Dubey N.K. Harit A.K. Jain N.K. Wadhwa T.C. Gupta S.R. Dhariwal A.C. Jain D.C. Bhatia Rajesh Sokhey Jotna Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 Bulletin of the World Health Organization ethylene gycols/toxicity ethylene gycols/poisoning drug contamination expectorants/toxicity antitussive agents/toxicity kidney failure/acute child, preschool infant India |
| title | Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 |
| title_full | Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 |
| title_fullStr | Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 |
| title_short | Diethylene glycol poisoning in Gurgaon, India, 1998 |
| title_sort | diethylene glycol poisoning in gurgaon india 1998 |
| topic | ethylene gycols/toxicity ethylene gycols/poisoning drug contamination expectorants/toxicity antitussive agents/toxicity kidney failure/acute child, preschool infant India |
| url | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862001000200002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT singhjagvir diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT duttaak diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT khareshashi diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT dubeynk diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT haritak diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT jainnk diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT wadhwatc diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT guptasr diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT dhariwalac diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT jaindc diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT bhatiarajesh diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 AT sokheyjotna diethyleneglycolpoisoningingurgaonindia1998 |