The government's nodal agency for disease surveillance, NCDC, has collected water and entomological drug samples from hospitals and other sites in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where multiple children have died of kidney failure following alleged consumption of contaminated cough syrup.
The samples will be tested to rule out possible of any infectious disease. Once the test results are out they will be shared with the state drug authorities, officials said.
Simultaneously, state drug authorities are testing the drug samples, results of which are still awaited.
The recent deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been linked to a cough syrup, prompting a probe and subsequent ban on the syrup's distribution.
According to the official sources, a team of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) visited the sites to collect samples.
According to a report by NDTV, investigators believe that the deaths were caused due to a contaminated cough syrup laced with toxic diethylene glycol.
Six children died in Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh due to kidney failure allegedly after consuming the cough syrup while Rajasthan reported one death in Sikar district.
According to the bereaved families of the children, they initially suffered from what could be called common cases of colds, coughs and fevers. However, soon after things took turn for the worse as their kidneys got affected and led to their untimely deaths.
The Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSCL) has banned the sale and use of 19 batches of the syrup and the health department has issued advisories to parents, doctors, and medical operators to be vigilant, sources said.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Naresh Gonare revealed that the first suspected case was reported on August 24, and the first death occurred on September 7.
"Since September 20, more cases of urinary retention and kidney complications have emerged. This is a sensitive period for viral infections, but sudden kidney failure in so many children points to something far more dangerous," he said.