Do you resort to medications to relieve your child’s fever? If so, what medicine do you use?  Do you give him/her Paracetamol?

Unfortunately for me, yes. I give my son Paracetamol every time he has fever.  On doctor’s prescription, Tempra Forte or Biogesic for Kids are two most-trusted brands that I consistently patronize as they’ve proven to relieve my son’s fever.

Now, why did I say: unfortunately? Because I just read today an article in HealthDay News which linked acetaminophen to developing childhood asthma.

Acetaminophen, the USAN (United States Adopted Names) equivalent of Paracetamol, if given to children during the first year of life to reduce fever, are more likely to develop asthma later on, a new study by the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand in Wellington stated.

Children who are given acetaminophen/paracetamol are also more likely to develop rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema when they reach age 6 to 7, the study also indicated.

“If this association is causative, it would suggest that acetaminophen use is a risk factor for asthma and may explain the asthma has become more common,” said the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Richard Beasley.

For the study, Beasley’s group collected data on 205,487 children from 31 countries around the world. These children participated in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood.

The researchers found that children who were given acetaminophen for fever during the first year of life had a 46 percent increased risk of developing asthma when they were 6 to 7 years old.

In addition, children who were given high doses of acetaminophen within the past year had a more than three times increased risk of asthma. Those who were given medium doses had a 61 percent increased risk of developing the condition, Beasley’s team reported.

Acetaminophen use was also associated with an increased risk of severe asthma of about 22 percent to 38 percent, the researchers found.

Well, the study can’t definitively say that acetaminophen is a cause of asthma. In fact, Dr. Beasley said its use for children shouldn’t be changed.  Dr. Beasley thinks however, that the medicine should not be used routinely for childhood fever, but reserved for high fevers.  Sadly for me, I religiously give Paracetamol to my son even if his fever isn’t that high.

Now, I am caught in the middle into thinking if the bouts of asthma attacks that my son had before were worsened by the intake of Paracetamol. I really hope not. Anyway, the study says it is non conclusive of the direct association of asthma and acetaminophen. “Asthma may be caused by something else,” the study adds. The study is a good “precaution read” especially that it stresses the importance of giving the right dosage of medicine for high fever.  But then again, it raises a lot more of questions in my mind.  Hope to get to read a follow-up study on this one in the near future.

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In the meantime, I’ve also read that Ibufrofen may be best for kid’s fever. Here’s what a news article in BabyCenter.com stated:

As reported in the British Medical Journal, Dr. Alastair D. Hay, from the University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues assessed the duration of fever in 146 children, between 6 months and 6 years of age, who were randomly assigned to get ibuprofen, paracetamol, or both for a high temperature.

In the first 4 hours after treatment, the drug combination cut the duration of fever by about 55 minutes compared with paracetamol alone. Ibuprofen alone was comparable to the combined therapy.

Over 24 hours, paracetamol plus ibuprofen reduced the fever duration by 4.4 hours relative to paracetamol alone and by 2.5 hours compared to ibuprofen alone.

Side effects were comparable with each treatment.

The authors of the report conclude: “Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and parents wanting to use medicines to treat young, unwell children with fever should be advised to use ibuprofen first and to consider the relative benefits and risks of using paracetamol plus ibuprofen over a 24 hour period.”