Overview

• Authorities are investigating at least nine deaths in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara and three in Rajasthan after children with colds reportedly took Coldrif or Nextro-DS and later developed acute kidney failure.
• Drug inspectors in Jabalpur said 660 bottles of Coldrif were procured, 594 supplied to Chhindwara, and 16 sent for laboratory analysis as remaining stocks were frozen at distributors.
• Tamil Nadu halted sales of Coldrif statewide, Rajasthan paused 19 batches tied to local cases, and district officials in MP barred Coldrif and Nextro-DS pending test outcomes.
• Central and state teams, including NCDC and ICMR, collected drug, water, and entomological samples; early checks reported by officials found no infectious cause, and some regulator sources said no contamination detected so far.
• Rajasthan’s health department said the syrup involved there was given at home and contained dextromethorphan, which is not recommended for young children, as MP’s health minister publicly questioned any link to the syrups and surveillance expanded to a line list of about 1,420 children.