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It’s inevitable that at some point, your children will come down with a cough. Hearing them suffering from a cough, particularly through the night, can be a painful thing to listen to as a parent.
We checked in with family practitioner Dr. Lily Wong 黃淑婷醫生 to find out why conventional cough syrups are no longer an option and some helpful alternatives.
The first thing we want to note is that all the evidence suggests that cough syrups are not very effective. The current recommendation is that children under the age of 4 avoid cough syrups; children over the age of 4 can take child-specific cough syrup but Dr. Lily Wong still recommends avoiding it altogether.
Nonetheless, thousands of children end up in emergency rooms across the world as a result of taking cough syrup. The biggest risk comes in accidentally giving a child too much cough syrup. Some of these children have drank some of the deliciously-flavored syrup, while others have had their parents administer too much. This is the type of thing that would “never happen to me”, but if you start thinking about measuring a dosage in the middle of the night, not communicating properly with the other parent or carer, or using two syrups with the same active ingredient, it becomes clear that it could easily happen to anyone.
It’s worrying to note that when cough syrups were developed, they were only tested on adults, not children and it’s not clear whether they act in the same way in both populations.
Cough syrup overdoses can result in seizures, comas, and death. The signs of a medication overdose in a child can include the following:
If you suspect a medication overdose of any kind (with or without the above symptoms), head straight to an outpatient clinic or an Accident and Emergency department.
The following are the active ingredients in cough syrups. They should be avoided in children under 4 and given sparingly and according to the recommended dosage (if at all).
You’ve probably heard it before, but the best cure for a cold is time. The majority of colds clear up on their own. To make your little one a bit more comfortable, you may want to try the following:
If your ill child is under three months, has a recurring cough, signs of whooping cough, or a persistent fever, contact your physician. A persistent cough can also be a sign of mild asthma.
Dr. Lily Wong 黃淑婷醫生 is a family practitioner at The London Medical Clinic. She is both a registered general practitioner and pharmacist in the UK and HK. Having lived and worked as a general practitioner for many years in busy practices in London, she relocated to Hong Kong with her family a few years ago. Dr. Wong has also been appointed Honorary Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Hong Kong University, for her teaching of medical students.
This article was independently written by Healthy Matters. It is informative only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be relied upon for specific medical advice.
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