Health alert: Cold and cough medicines dangerous for children!

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: With Crocin Cold and Flu, D-Cold Total, Corex, along with more than 350 combination drugs facing a ban in India, here is another revelation that should make you think twice before consuming these medicines.

A new research has found that cough and cold medicines are actually harmful for kids if administered to them.

Following the introduction of Health Canada's 2009 labelling requirement, there has been a small decrease in over-the-counter cough and cold medication use in children -- down from 22 per cent before the change.

"We found that a large number of young children continue to receive over-the-counter cough and cold medications even with evidence of harm, public health advisories from government agencies and mandated labelling requirements for manufacturers," said lead researcher Jonathon Maguire from St. Michael's Hospital in Ontario.

"In addition, evidence suggests these medications are not effective in young children. With no real benefit and documented risks, stronger measures may be needed to curtail their use," Maguire noted.

"I think a lot of parents would be surprised to learn that these medications can be harmful to children," Maguire said.

"Better public awareness as well as making these readily available medications harder to purchase may help to reduce their use," Maguire pointed out.

The study was published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

(With IANS inputs)