British ban aspirin for children

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 3

British ban aspirin for children

PA Wellington While children’s over-the-counter medicines based on aspirin have been taken off the market in Britain, no such products are available in New Zealand. The British ban has arisen from concerns that use of aspirin for children under 12 is linked with an often-fatal childhood disease called Reye’s Syndrome. It followed evidence from the United States linking aspirin with the potentially fatal disease, which can cause brain and liver damage. There have been about 250 known cases and 115 children have died in Britain since 1981. Sales of adult aspirin products in Britain are not affected but they will carry labels warning parents not to give them to children under 12. Similar warnings came into use in the United States last year. Warnings have also been issued in

Germany, Italy and Greece. The New Zealand Health Department is looking into the matter with urgency, studying information already available, and awaiting more from overseas, said the assistant director of clinical services. Children should be given aspirin only medical advice, said the Deputy Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch, Dr Mel Brieseman. There was a small risk of children developing Reye’s syndrome from aspirin and this was the reason children’s aspirins had been taken off the New Zealand market, he said. Some parents used aspirin as a sedative for children and in such cases the best alternative could be simply doing nothing. Sponging could be used to relieve fever, or paracetamol might be given, Dr Brieseman said.