Warnings Issued on Medication, Candy

Health officials issued separate warnings Thursday about a medication and a candy, both produced in Mexico, that could have toxic effects on children.

The medication, easily available in Mexico and some countries in South America, is known in Spanish as “neo-melubrina.” It is used to reduce pain and fever in infants and young children, said Marilyn Billimek, a Ventura County Health Department epidemiologist.

Use of the drug can cause a dangerous drop in the body’s ability to fight off disease by causing the level of white blood cells to fall, she said. The medication is believed to have contributed to the deaths last year in Orange County of two children, she said.

Although the drug has not been found anywhere in Ventura County, and no cases involving its use have been reported to the Health Department here, people who have bought medication outside the United States should check it as a precaution, Billimek.

People should immediately stop using and throw out any neo-melubrina that they are using, she said.

Billimek also warned parents to not let their children eat a brand of candy called “Brinquitos.” The candy, in the form of brightly colored granules, and its paper wrapper were found to be contaminated with high doses of lead.

Eating one one-hundredth of a wrapper would expose a child under age 7 to 27 times the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-recommended limit for ingestion of lead. Although no cases of the contaminated candy have been reported in Ventura County, Billimek asked the public to report any sellers of the candy to the Health Department at 654-4879.