CDC Warns Against Giving Cold Medicine to Kids Under 2
Friday,
January 12, 2007
More than 1,500 toddlers and babies wound up in emergency rooms over a
two-year period and three died because of bad reactions to cold or cough
medicine, federal health officials reported Thursday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned parents not to
give common over-the-counter cold remedies to children under 2 years old
without consulting a doctor.
The deaths of three infants 6 months or younger in 2005 led to an
investigation that showed the children all had high levels of the nasal
decongestant pseudoephedrine, up to 14 times the amount recommended for
children ages 2 to 12.
The study found 1,519 ER cases from 2004 and 2005 involving young children
and cold medicine.
