Beware of non steroidal drugs for fever

The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians has called upon parents and guardians to refrain from giving non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for fever.

These include aspirin, mefanamic acid and diclofenac sodium suppositories.

Children who had taken these medicines prior to hospital admission had shown a greater potential to bleed when they have Dengue Haemorrhagic fever causing a major problem to the medical staff in treating the children.

A media release by the College of Paediatricians said this is a well documented fact as the Paediatric wards in many parts of the country are dealing with a large number of children with Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic fever.

According to these doctors, in addition to tepid sponging, it is advisable to use only Paracetamol at the recommended dose to bring down high fever.

The College of Paediatricians calls upon parents and guardians to check the labels of all medications to control fever that is available in the market before giving them to children.