A British mother warns about the risks of prescribing ibuprofen during chickenpox. The molecule is not recommended in this indication, but still too often prescribed.
Chickenpox and ibuprofen sometimes don’t mix well. Little Lewis Lyons learned it the hard way. This young Englishman was prescribed Nurofen to treat the symptoms of his chickenpox – mainly fever and headaches. An error on the part of the doctors, which led to hospitalization in critical condition, for sepsis.
Lewis had however consulted four different doctors, who had all prescribed him the drug based on ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Severe skin reactions followed one another, including emergencies.
While a chickenpox epidemic is underway across the Channel, the mother of the little boy wished to alert all parents by posting a message on Facebook relayed on a large scale. “Please do not give Nurofen / ibuprofen to your children for chickenpox,” she warns. This type of medication is one of the anti-inflammatory drugs, which react with chickenpox by making it penetrate deeper into the tissues. “
Paracetamol rather than ibuprofen
The young mother continues to communicate on the subject, and will continue “as long as the warning is not added to the instructions for use”. The British equivalent of the High Authority for Health reacted by officially advising against taking Nurofen in children with chickenpox.
In France, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) issued a warning in 2004 against the use of NSAIDs. “These infectious complications, which can be serious in exceptional cases, have led the ANSM to strengthen the precautions for use and warnings of all NSAIDs indicated in children, considering that it is prudent to avoid their use in cases of chickenpox, ”can be read on the agency’s website.
The rare scientific studies on the subject have not made it possible to clearly identify the link between the complications and taking ibuprofen, but the cases observed call for caution. The ANSM recommends the use of paracetamol to treat fever and pain.
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