To heal children sick, drugs adapted to their young age are most often recommended by professionals. Review Prescribe however, is ringing the alarm bell. It seems that some of them have risks pour their health.
As relayed The Dispatch, the sticks containing paracetamol – in the form of drinkable suspensions or granules – are singled out. And for good reason: it is precisely this conditioning that is considered dangerous for the youngest. Explanations.
Paracetamol stick: beware of the risk of overdose
If these drugs are very practical – because they are easily transportable, consumable without water and appreciated by children – all of their advantages also represent risk factors. Indeed, with their attractive packaging (which looks like small sachets of sugar) and their different tastes, they can easily pass for confectionery.
Review Prescribe indeed explains: Opening the sachets is easy. There is no security system that could prevent or delay the opening of the bag by a child. The attractiveness of the aromas and the presentation in sticks trivialize the use of paracetamol, and particularly expose children to overdoses ».
As much for children as for adults, the overdose of paracetamol presents a potentially fatal danger. Since the year 2020, the message “overdose = danger” is also indicated on the boxes of medicines containing this active ingredient as a prevention.
Children: beware of paracetamol sticks https://t.co/oAaqxFad2d #Alaune #paracetamol #overdose pic.twitter.com/0ufzFpimD9
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Health: do not exceed the maximum authorized daily dose
Even taking precautions so that the child does not have access to the drugs in question, zero risk does not exist. The dosage according to the weight of the paracetamol stick can also be misleading for parents. Even the most observant are not immune to accidental overdose.
To limit the risks, it is important to keep the instructions for use of medicines containing paracetamol (and not only!). Above all, care must be taken never to exceed the maximum recommended daily dose.
Also to be read
As recalled by the High Authority for Health, the latter amounts to “ approximately 60 mg/kg/day, to be divided into 4 doses, i.e. approximately 15 mg/kg every 6 hours or 10 mg/kg every 4 hours ».