New Delhi: After a string of recent child deaths in Madhya Pradesh was linked with the consumption of cough syrup, samples tested by Union and state government officials returned negative for contaminants diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, the health ministry said on Friday (October 3).With regard to reports of the death of children in Rajasthan due to cough syrup consumption, the ministry said that the “product in question” contains the cough suppressant dextromethorphan that is not recommended for use in children.That product also does not contain the excipient propylene glycol, which can be contaminated with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol, the ministry added in a statement quoted in the press.Rajasthan has suspended a drug control official and halted the supply of all medicines made by Kaysons Pharma – whose dextromethorphan-based cough syrup is reportedly under scrutiny – PTI reported, and has denied that government doctors prescribed the drug to the deceased children, per The Hindu.Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu after receiving information from the Madhya Pradesh government detected the presence of the two contaminants in a batch of the ‘Coldrif’ cough syrup that has also come under scrutiny, according to The Hindu, which added that the southern state ordered its locally based manufacturer to stop making the drug.According to PTI, nine child deaths in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara have come under the scanner, while the Indian Express reported early on Saturday that the toll in Rajasthan is believed to be three children.The health ministry said that samples of medicines including cough syrups from “the site” in Madhya Pradesh collected by personnel from the National Centre for Disease Control, the National Institute of Virology, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and other organisations in addition to state government officials ultimately yielded no diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol.“The Madhya Pradesh State Food and Drug Administration also tested three samples and confirmed absence of DEG/EG,” the ministry was quoted as saying.It added that of blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples collected by the National Institute of Virology, one case tested positive for leptospirosis, a bacterial infection of the blood.“A multi-disciplinary team … is investigating all possible causes behind the reported cases,” the ministry said.As for the “reports related to two deaths of children in Rajasthan because of contaminated cough syrup consumption”, the ministry said, the “product in question does not contain Propylene Glycol, which can be potential source of contaminants, DEG/EG”.“Additionally, the product under reference is a dextromethorphan-based formulation, which is not recommended for paediatric use.”There have been allegations that a government clinic wrongly prescribed the medicine in question in Rajasthan, which state government officials denied.Only trace amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are permitted in medicines and the compounds are highly toxic to the kidneys if ingested in larger quantities.Contamination with the two compounds of cough syrups in India or Indian-made cough syrups abroad is believed to have caused numerous child deaths in the past.