Recall of children's antibiotic ordered across UAE

All public and private healthcare facilities have been asked to recall a children's antibiotic, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.

Batch number 517999 of the antibiotic powder Augmentin, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, was found to be at risk of contamination, said Dr Amin Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for medical practice and licensing at the ministry.

The ministry said the antibiotics, which are prescription only, may contain pieces of plastic because of a manufacturing error.

"We discovered the problem yesterday and immediately we sent [the circular]. We asked the company to withdraw it all from the market," Dr Al Amiri said.

Although an exact figure was not available, he said the withdrawn batch was small.

Augmentin is used to treat numerous respiratory illnesses, including sinusitis, bronchitis and pneumonia.

zalhassani@thenational.ae