Some common nighttime cold and flu tablets could raise the risk of seizures in young children, concerning research found today.
Scientists in South Korea, analysed data on kids who had visited an emergency department with a seizure.
They discovered those prescribed medications, dubbed ‘first generation’ antihistamines’ were 22 per cent more likely to suffer the medical episode.
This risk stood at 31 per cent among kids aged between six months to two-years-old.
Experts today warned medics should be cautious when prescribing these anti-allergy drugs, often used for colds in young children.
Scientists in South Korea , analysed data on kids who had visited an emergency department with a seizure. They discovered those prescribed medications, dubbed ‘first generation’ antihistamines’ were 22 per cent more likely to suffer the medical episode
Antihistamines decrease the production of histamine, a substance that leads to a runny nose, watery eyes, and sneezing.
Some cold and cough remedies also contain antihistamines.
Older first generation drugs, unlike newer antihistamines, can often make users feel sleepy as they pass easily from the blood to the brain.
Under NHS guidance, only children over six should be prescribed diphenhydramine, one type of first generation antihistamines.
The study identified 11,729 children, born between 2002 and 2005, who had visited an emergency department with a seizure.
Researchers from the CHA University School of Medicine in South Korea, found of these, 3,178 kids had taken antihistamines in the period before a seizure, suggesting the drugs increased the risk.
A third (31 per cent) of seizures observed were in children between six moths old and two years, and less than half (45 per cent) were in children just over two years to six.
The scientists also found children were also most at risk if they had been prescribed the drugs up to 15 days before.
Writing in the journal JAMA, they said: ‘Because first-generation antihistamines can cross the blood brain barrier, their effects may extend beyond somnolence [sleepiness] and drowsiness to markedly influence brain wave activity.
‘Thus, caution is advised when prescribing these antihistamines to children younger than two years, an age group for whom drug safety data are lacking and first-generation antihistamines are generally not recommended.’
They also suggested that children under six are more vulnerable to seizures than older age groups due ‘to the developing blood brain barrier, which continues to evolve in this age group.’
The scientists added: ‘In infants, incomplete formation of the blood brain barrier leads to increased permeability and a higher risk of drug penetration into the brain tissue.
‘Therefore, antihistamines, which are relatively harmless to adults and older children, might markedly affect infants in a negative manner.’
Although researchers did find an increased risk of seizures in children who took the antihistamines, used in cold and flu medicine, study authors suggest further research is needed.
‘The benefits and risks of antihistamine use should always be carefully considered, especially when prescribing H1 antihistamines to vulnerable infants,’ they said.
‘Further research is needed to elucidate associations between antihistamine prescriptions and seizure risk,’ they added.
