Warning over cold remedies for children

Published on Sunday 1 March 2009 21:04

OVER-THE-COUNTER cough and cold medicines do not work on children under 12 and can even cause side-effects like hallucinations, according to new advice issued to parents.

A review of popular remedies – such as Lemsip powders, Day Nurse and Sudafed – by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), found "no robust evidence these medicines work" in children.

The MHRA added that the possible side-effects, although not dangerous, could include sleep disturbance, allergic reactions and hallucinations.

In the face of the lack of evidence that the medicines do any good, they have decided that many can no longer be sold for giving to children under six.

New, clearer advice will be published on packets for dosage of children between six and 12, and more research is being done to see what benefits, if any, the medicines have.

Pharmacists will be issued with new advice to give to parents about which medicines can be used safely. But the MHRA said parents should not worry if they have used the medicines in the past, and shop shelves will not be cleared of current stocks.

Pain-relief preparations and remedies used to lower a child's temperature, such as Calpol, are unaffected by the new rules. For children under six, the MHRA recommends that parents stick to simple remedies like keeping their child's temperature down, and simple honey and lemon mixtures to ease a cough.

MHRA spokesman Jeremy Mean explained that children's physiology differs from adults so that remedies proven to work on an older body cannot be assumed to have the same effect on youngsters.

He said that all children's medicines were being reviewed due to a "change in thinking".

"Many years ago, it was thought that we could use adult doses in a watered down way, but we now know that children's bodies are different." The trade body for over-the-counter medicine manufacturers, the Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB), said that the affected remedies would no longer be marketed for children. Sheila Kelly, PAGB executive director said: "We continue to have confidence in the value that these medicines have in the management of children's coughs and colds for children over six years."

What's OK, what's not …

MEDICINES labelled with doses for under-sixes which will be changed to indicate they cannot be given to children under six:

&#149 Beechams Veno's Expectorant and Honey & Lemon

&149 Benilyn Children's Chesty Coughs; Children's Coughs and Colds; Children's Night Coughs; Children's Dry Cough

&#149 Calcold

&#149 Calcough Chesty

&#149 Calpol Night

&#149 Care Glycerin lemon & honey with Ipecac

&#149 Cofsed Linctus

&#149 Family Meltus Chesty Coughs Honey and Lemon Flavour

&#149 Galenphol Linctus

&#149 Galenphol Paediatric Linctus

&#149 Galpseud linctus

&#149 Galsud Junior

&#149 Meltus Chesty Coughs with Catarrh

&#149 Junior Meltus Dry Coughs with Congestion

&#149 Lemsip Cough and Cold Chesty Cough Medicine

&#149 Medised for Children

&#149 Multi-Action Actifed

&#149 Multi-Action Actifed Chesty Coughs

&#149 Mutli-Action Actifed Dry Coughs

&#149 Non-Drowsy Sudafed Children's

&#149 Non-Drowsy Sudafed Expectorant

&#149 Non-Drowsy Sudafed Linctus

&#149 Lemsip Cough Chesty

&#149 Otrivine Children's Nasal Drops

&#149 Robitussin Chesty Cough Medicine

&#149 Robitussin Chesty Cough with Congestion

&149 Tixilix Cough and Cold; Chesty Cough; Night Cough

&149 Vicks Cough Syrup for Chesty Coughs; Cough Syrup for Dry Coughs

Medicines recommended for children under six

&#149 Baby Meltus Cough Linctus

&#149 Beechams Veno's Honey and Lemon (not to be given under one year)

&#149 Benylin Children's Tickly Coughs (not to be given under three months)

&#149 Benylin Tickly Coughs (Non drowsy) (not to be given under one year)

&#149 CalCough TicklyCare Glycerin Lemon & Honey with Glucose (not recommended under one year)

&#149 Lemsip Cough Dry Tixylix Baby Syrup (not recommended under three months)