The children started showing symptoms after taking the medication for indigestion (Picture: Getty/Barcroft)
MALAGA-(MaraviPost)-Several babies in Spain have developed hypertrichosis, also dubbed ‘werewolf syndrome’, after taking a batch of contaminated medicine.
The 16 infants developed the highly rare condition, which causes excessive hair growth anywhere on a person’s body, after taking omeprazole for acid reflux and indigestion.
But the formula had been contaminated with minoxidil – the active ingredient in alopecia medication.
The alarm was raised after symptoms began to appear in 13 infants when they began taking the remedy.
Health sources told El Pais that the symptoms subsided when they stopped taking the medicine.
The rare condition causes excessive hair growth (Picture: AFP/Getty)
The contaminated batches were removed from shelves (Picture: Shams Qari/Barcroft Media)
On July 11, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products ordered for one batch of affected supplies to be withdrawn from a Malaga-based pharmaceuticals company.
The government body said the Costa del Sol’s Farma-Química Sur SL had imported the affected medicine from India, reported Granada Hoy.
But on August 6, the Agency withdrew another 22 batches after three new cases appeared in the southern city of Granada.
More than 23 pharmacies were put on red alert after one chemist had sold the same batch to other businesses across the province, said the Pharmaceutical College of Granada.
Officials said it just affected children’s batches of the formula (Picture: AFP/Getty).
Officials are now advising parents to keep an eye on their children to see if they develop any symptoms and to inform their doctor if so.
They believe the contamination only affected children’s formulas of the drug and adults shouldn’t be concerned if they have taken omeprozole tablets recently.
The Malaga pharmaceuticals company since decided to suspend producing, importing and distributing products from July.
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