The child has caught a cold, hang some water to resist the virus.
Clinically, there will always be parents who hope to be able to [hang some water to resist viruses]. In fact, most infants’ colds are indeed caused by viruses, but are those common [antiviral] drugs really necessary?
Doctor Zhou Ying of Pediatrics Department of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital told you: If the doctor prescribes the following drugs for the baby, please take the initiative to say [No].
Ribavirin injection
Ribavirin is a veteran figure in the field of antivirus. As a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, it has inhibitory effects on a variety of viruses.
In this way, when the baby has a common cold, can he take some ribavirin to fight it?
This is not the case.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently approves ribavirin dosage forms only for oral administration and atomization.
Among them, oral dosage forms are only used to treat hepatitis C, while atomized preparations are mainly used for lower respiratory tract infection caused by severe respiratory syncytial virus, which may be fatal when severe.
See here, do parents also understand that ribavirin cannot be used for intravenous injection in the United States? This drug has obvious teratogenic effect clinically, and is likely to cause leukopenia and hemolytic anemia.
Our baby is just a common cold. Generally speaking, it will be fine after a week. Why rush to use such dangerous drugs?
Adenosine arabinoside monophosphate
The name of this medicine is a bit long and may not be easy to remember. Read it several times and remember it!
This medicine is mostly used to treat stomatitis, dermatitis, encephalitis and cytomegalovirus infection caused by herpes virus infection.
In recent years, with the increasing application of this drug, the adverse reactions caused by it are also increasing, of which about 80% occur when children under 14 years old are injected with adenosine monophosphate.
China Food and Drug Administration also made it clear that:
Adenosine monophosphate for injection is prone to severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylactic shock, anaphylactic reaction, dyspnea, etc. It may also cause mental disorders, nerve damage, bone marrow suppression, etc.
However, more and more adverse reactions are mostly due to its use when it is not needed, which is beyond its indications.
As mentioned earlier, adenosine arabinoside only has effect on DNA viruses such as herpes virus and cytomegalovirus, but has no effect on more common [cold viruses] such as rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus.
Therefore, when your doctor prescribes this medicine, he must communicate with the doctor and pharmacist in a timely manner. This does not mean that this medicine must not be used, but he must consult the doctor to carefully evaluate and weigh the pros and cons in a timely manner.
Ganciclovir injection
Ganciclovir is also one of the common antiviral drugs, but it, like adenosine monophosphate, has no effect on the common cold.
The real effect of this drug is to treat infection caused by cytomegalovirus.
So, if we use it to treat colds, what impact will it have on the body?
The side effects of ganciclovir injection are not small, among which leukopenia and thrombocytopenia are the most common. As a pediatrician, I have also seen the kind of children whose leukopenia is obvious and the course of disease exceeds half a year due to improper use of ganciclovir.
In fact, most of the pathogens that cause children’s [colds] are viruses, and virus infections are often self-limiting and do not require [antiviral] treatment. As long as reasonable family care is adopted to prevent further serious illness, it can generally heal itself after one week.
If the drug is not used properly, it will not only not cure the disease, but also be bad for the baby’s health. It is not easy to raise the baby. Parents must be cautious.