TheConversation: The common cold season is here, and if you have children, you
will likely feel their suffering from these annoying upper respiratory
tract viral infections. Children experience more colds, about six to 10 annually, than adults. With each cold producing symptoms of nasal congestion, runny nose, cough and mild fever lasting up to seven to 10 days, it may seem that children are nearly continuously sick. Parents certainly want their ill children to feel better, and they,
naturally, want to help. A frequent solution is over-the-counter (OTC)
drugs, which are heavily advertised to treat many maladies, including
colds. A stroll down your local pharmacy OTC drug aisle will highlight
the numerous OTC drug products available for adults and children.
It is tempting to buy one or more of these products to help your
child. However, for children younger than 12 years of age, it is best
not to use commonly advertised OTC cough and cold drug products. These
products lack supportive clinical study efficacy and safety data, an issue I’ve studied as a professor of pharmacy practice.
Scimex: Parents are being warned of the risks posed to children by water
absorbing beads, which can be used in vases of flowers and are
increasingly being sold as toys and learning aids for autistic children.
The beads, which will swell to 400 times their original size, can block
kids gastrointestinal tract, and the number of incidents is on the
rise. Since 2004 there have been 129 cases involving the beads reported
to the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre, but the majority of
these cases occurred after 2013. The researchers say there have been
reports of serious bowel obstruction in children and the death of a
6-month-old child overseas.
