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Common Cold Medications Dangerous To Young Children
Posted by: William Cirignani
March 28, 2007

Our office is handling a case where a baby girl died from taking a doctor-prescribed cold medication called Rondec (also called Andehist). Pediatricians warn that these prescription medications, as well as many over-the-counter (?OTC?) cold medications, contain drugs that can be dangerous to your children.

One drug present in many of these medications is called pseudoephedrine. This drug is commonly used for treatment of allergies and cold symptoms. A complication of pseudoephedrine is a negative impact on a child?s central nervous system (?CNS?). The impact on the CNS can, in turn, result in difficultly breathing and even cardiac arrest. Indeed, experts now believe that many deaths once attributable to sudden infant death syndrome ("SIDS") may actually have been related to pseudoephedrine.

What you need to remember is that these drugs have not been shown to be effective in children under the age of two; thus, there is no justification to expose children to the risk of these side effects. Listen to the experts:

?Cold and cough medications, especially medications containing pseudoephedrine, have never been shown to have any beneficial effect on children less than 2 years of age, yet they clearly can have significant harmful effects," said Dr. Michael Marcus, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at the Maimonides Infants & Children's Hospital in New York City

?There are no studies to support the use of cold medicine in infants," said Dr. Gwen Wurm, director of community pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "The thing to keep in mind is that colds go away. Kids might benefit from a humidifier by the bed and saline nose drops, but this kind of loving care is all most kids need.?

Here are some symptoms to watch for (call your doctor immediately if seen):

* nervousness
* dizziness
* difficulty sleeping
* stomach pain
* vomiting
* difficulty breathing
* fast or irregular heartbeat
* weakness
* palpitations
* uncontrollable shaking

For more information, see:

http://www.aap.org/patiented/coldsandyoungchild.htm http://idinchildren.com/200106/frameset.asp?article=pharm.asp
http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/Articles/News/0,10141,-350,00.html

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