Commonly used drugs in pediatrics

Pediatrics is a department that treats various pediatric diseases. Whether children have a cold, cough or fever, it is best to go to the pediatric department for diagnosis and treatment, because children's physique is relatively special, and different methods and medicines need to be adopted according to their physique during the treatment process. If you don't go to the hospital, you should also buy some medicines suitable for your child. Below, I will introduce to you several types of commonly used pediatric medicines.

1. Cold and cough medicine

If a cold needs to be treated, only symptomatic treatment is available. For children, cold and cough medicines are not effective in relieving symptoms and have many side effects. Therefore, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends that children under 4 years old do not use over-the-counter cold and cough medicines. Because of concerns about respiratory depression, the European Medicines Agency recently banned the use of codeine to treat coughs and colds in children under 12 years old.

2. Antipyretics

Analgin: prone to agranulocytosis.

Aspirin, lepidium (antipyretic injection): Influenza and chickenpox may cause Reye's syndrome. Children under 12 years old who use antipyretic drugs containing aspirin will increase this risk.

Nimesulide: It is highly hepatotoxic and is contraindicated for use under 12 years of age.

Safer choices for antipyretics are acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

3. Antiviral drugs

Ribavirin: Ribavirin is a prescription drug. It is mainly used to treat chronic hepatitis C and hemorrhagic fever abroad. It can be used according to the condition of children hospitalized with severe respiratory syncytial virus pneumonia. However, in China, all viral infectious diseases are suspected, such as colds, rotavirus enteritis, hand, foot and mouth disease, etc. When the outpatient doctor prescribes this medicine for your child, you can gently remind the doctor that you do not want to use this medicine.

Amantadine: This drug is basically useless for both the common cold and influenza, and has many adverse reactions. The therapeutic dose and the dose that produces side effects are relatively close. Overdose may cause damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, and nervous system. All cold medicines that contain "alkylamine" in their names contain this ingredient.

Special reminder: Antiviral oral liquid is a traditional Chinese medicine. Saying that it can be antiviral is the same as saying that Isatis root can be antiviral.

4. Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicines do not undergo rigorous clinical drug trials before they are produced and marketed, so their efficacy and safety are unclear, and naturally there is no way to weigh the benefits and risks. Contrary to popular belief, Chinese medicine is not naturally non-toxic, and many of them have been shown to be toxic to the liver, kidneys, and nerves.

Children may have to deal with traditional Chinese medicine from birth. Everyone is familiar with Yinzhihuang, Qixing Tea, Baoyingdan, etc. There are also various Chinese patent medicines. It is a small probability event that you go to the hospital and are not prescribed a Chinese medicine. Even more dangerous are Chinese herbal injections. Chinese herbal injections such as XXping and XXning are widely used in pediatrics. Due to their complex ingredients, allergic reactions are common and in severe cases, fatal anaphylactic shock may occur.