Parents advised against giving echinacea to children

THE POPULAR herbal treatment echinacea should no longer be given to children under 12 because of possible adverse reactions, according to an advisory issued by the Irish Medicines Board.

Groups supporting the use of herbal remedies have criticised the move, claiming there was no scientific data identifying any health risks. Echinacea is a widely used flower-based herbal remedy which is said to reduce the incidence of common colds and diminish their severity.

However, the latest safety evaluations led the board to conclude that use of echinacea could be associated with “rare side-effects, mainly allergic reactions which in some cases may be severe”.

“This is not a serious safety issue and the measures being taken are precautionary in nature,” Ann O’Connor, the board’s director of human products authorisation, said in a statement yesterday. It was a “prudent measure” based on a scientific evaluation, she added.

However, the Irish Association of Health Stores criticised the ruling and demanded to know the evidence on which the board’s decision was made. It said products containing echinacea had been used by children in Ireland for almost 20 years, over which time there was “no knowledge of any adverse event”.

There was “no up-to-date evidence” to show the product was unsafe for use by under 12s, said the president of the association, Jill Bell. “This ban by the IMB is completely unjustified and will cause worry to many parents who want to protect their children’s health,” she said. Blocking its use in young children would increase infection rates and encourage more use of antibiotics. “There might be more sense in banning the sale of peanuts,” she said.

“Echinacea would be a massive medicine for herbalists,” said Susie Quigley, general secretary of the Irish Registry of Herbalists. “We would view it as a safe herb.”

The board said the recommendation was “based on the lack of scientific data” to support the product’s use in children under 12, saying there was “limited evidence of benefit in this age group”.

It has begun telling retailers and others involved in supplying the children’s product to remove it from sale. Product information, when it describes dosages for under-12s, should also be changed over time. Adult echinacea products are not affected by the advisory. Ireland implemented the European Herbal Medicines Directive last year, triggering a review of previously unregulated herbal products on the Irish market.