According to the country’s health director, the government of The Gambia is looking into the recent deaths of scores of young children and potential connections to a paracetamol syrup.
“Dozens of children [under the age of five] have died in the last three months,” The Gambia’s director of health services, Mustapha Bittaye, told newsmen on Thursday. “Autopsies suggest the possibility of paracetamol.”
According to data from the health ministry, 28 kids had passed away by early August, for a death rate of about 90%. According to Bittaye, the number is now far greater.
It is not yet known if a specific paracetamol brand is under investigation, but Bittaye suggested that it is probably a syrup that is available locally. The Gambia’s health authorities stated last week that this type of sickness frequently has multiple causes.
Bittaye continued, “E. coli bacteria was another possibility, given that recent flooding in The Gambia and most of West Africa was brought on by prolonged periods of heavy rain. The capital city Banjul and its neighboring villages’ unpaved streets are overcrowded.
The usage of open pit latrines and open drinking wells in urban areas can cause drinking water to become contaminated and help waterborne diseases like E spread. health personnel reported E. coli. In the upcoming days, an official count is anticipated, according to Bittaye.