Health Alert: Vicks VapoRub can harm children under 2
A new article just came out regarding Vicks VapRub and kids:
CHICAGO (Reuters) –
Vicks VapoRub, a common cold remedy, can cause respiratory distress in children under 2 when inappropriately applied directly under the nose, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said using the Procter&Gamble Co product in this way can cause a young child's tiny airways to swell and fill with mucus, triggering severe breathing problems.
"The only problem we've seen is in a small child when it has been put under the nose," Dr. Bruce Rubin of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, said in a telephone interview.
Rubin said the ingredients in Vicks can be irritants, causing the body
to produce more mucus to protect the airway. And since infants and
young children have airways that are much narrower than those of an
adult, any increase in mucus or swelling can narrow them severely.
"The company is really clear it should never go under the nose or in
the nose for anybody and it shouldn't be used in children under 2,"
said Rubin, whose study appears in the journal Chest.
While the researchers only tested the Vicks product, Rubin said similar
products, including generic versions, could cause the same negative
effects in infants and toddlers.
Rubin and his colleagues began looking at use of the medication after
treating an 18-month-old girl who developed respiratory distress after
the salve was put under her nose.
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