How to ease symptoms amid Canada’s shortage of children’s cold and flu medication
With Canada’s shortage of children’s cold and flu medication still lingering, parents have other options to help ease symptoms in little ones dealing with coughs, sore throats and the other common ailments of flu season.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced Friday that one million bottles arrived in Canada through foreign imports and about 1.1 million units have been produced domestically so far in November.
However, as parents and caregivers wait for those bottles to make their way onto shelves in our province, Manitoba Pediatric Society president Doctor Marni Hanna said there are several treatment alternatives to help ease symptoms.
For starters, Dr. Hanna advises parents of children experiencing fevers not to panic.
“Not all fevers need, medication and a fever is your body's natural response to getting sick,” she told CTV Morning Live Winnipeg’s Rachel Lagacé in an interview Monday.
“We're more concerned if fevers are going on for more than five days, or if the child is under three months old, or if they look really sick, dehydrated, or if they're having trouble breathing.”
Hanna recommends putting a cool cloth on children’s heads, keeping their body temperature down with light clothing and keeping the room cool.
She adds babies with coughs can be treated with saline spray or drops paired with a nasal aspirator to remove mucus. Keeping their heads elevated instead of lying flat will also make breathing and coughing easier.
For older kids, Hanna said the old standbys work well – a humidifier, lots of fluids, plus some extra snuggles.
CHICKEN SOUP? A SLICE OF ONION? WHICH OLD WIVES’ TALES WORK
Meanwhile, there are a few long-held flu remedies that Hanna says have little evidence to back up their lore.
The doctor said classics like chicken soup and a teaspoon of honey can help soothe sore throats.
“I think the reason why people resort to (chicken soup) is because warm fluids in general just feel better on a sore throat and there's salt in it, so it helps you to maintain your hydration,” she said.
Then, there are the more obscure flu treatments that have gained notoriety over the years – like putting Vicks VapoRub on a child’s face or putting a slice of onion on their feet.
“I think parents just want to feel like they're doing something. We would caution against putting Vicks VapoRub on a child's face. So definitely avoid putting it on their face. But if you put it on their feet, that maybe it'll do something, but I doubt it,” Dr. Hanna said.
- With files from CTV's Rachel Lagacé and the Alissa Thibault
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.