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Infant Deaths Associated with Cough and Cold Medications
During 2004--2005, an estimated 1,519 children aged less than 2 years were treated in U.S. emergency departments for adverse events, including overdoses, associated with cough and cold medications. In response to reports of infant deaths after such events, CDC and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) investigated deaths in U.S. infants aged less than 12 months associated with cough and cold medications. This report describes the results of that investigation, which identified three infants aged less than 6 months whose deaths were attributed to cough and cold medications.
Date Released: 3/9/2007 Running time: 4:59 Author: MMWR Series Name: A Minute of Health with CDC
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A MINUTE OF HEALTH WITH CDC
Infant Deaths Associated with Cough and Cold Medications – Two States,
2005
March 9, 2007
This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC –
safer, healthier people.
Winter is cold season and that probably means you have a supply of cold and
cough
medicines on hand. If you have a child under age two, reaching for these medicines
is
not a good idea. Cold medicines contain a number of ingredients, including
decongestants, antihistamines, and cough suppressants. These ingredients can
be
dangerous if they reach too high a level in the body. During a two year period,
CDC
found that more than fifteen hundred children under the age of two were treated
in
emergency rooms for side effects or overdoses from cold and cough medicines.
The
CDC study found that cold medicine overdoses caused three infant deaths in 2005.
If your child is under two and has a cold, talk to your doctor before giving
any
medication. Many cold medicines contain similar ingredients, so giving more
than one
medicine can easily result in an overdose. Remember that medication is often
unnecessary. Saline nose drops and a cool-mist humidifier can help ease congestion.
Be sure to join us next week on A Minute of Health with CDC.
To access the most accurate and relevant health information that affects you,
your
family, and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.
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