I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:
A mum is warning parents against the danger of giving ibuprofen to children with chickenpox after her son ended up with septicaemia. Hayley Lyons' shared photos of the reaction her son had to the anti-inflammatory drug on Facebook and her post has now been shared almost 350,000 times.
She said a number of doctors prescribed children’s ibuprofen to her son Lewis. He deteriorated and ended up in hospital with septicaemia. After taking him to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital she was told that he should never have been given the medicine because ‘it reacts with chicken pox making them go deeper into the skin tissue’.
In her post Hayley said: “Chickenpox is going round again can I please remind people NOT to give your children nurofen/ibuprofen. 4 different doctors from our local Hospital (out of hours) prescribed it for Lewis as we couldn’t get his temp down. They even administered it to him in A&E.
“This type of medicine is an anti inflammatory, it reacts with chicken pox making them go deeper into the skin tissue. It was only when we took Lewis to Alder Hey because the doctors from our hospital kept sending him home saying it was ‘just chicken pox’ we found this out. He ended up with septicaemia and was admitted straight to Alder Hey as soon as we arrived there.
“Only because we persevered an took Lewis to a children’s hospital off our own back was he ok. This could have ended up so much worse if it wasn’t for those doctors at Alder Hey and their advice, care and knowledge. Only use CALPOL for their temps.
“It does actually state on the nurofen website not to take this medicine with chicken pox. But when our doctors prescribe it, who are we to question it??” Information shared with medical professionals on the Medline Plus website confirms that the drug should not be given.
It states: “Do NOT give aspirin or ibuprofen to someone who may have chickenpox. Use of aspirin has been associated with a serious condition called Reyes syndrome. Ibuprofen has been associated with more severe secondary infections.”
Hayley, from Warrington , said: “Lewis is fine now. It happened 10 months ago but he still has the scars. “My friend’s daughter has chickenpox so when I saw that it was going round again I decided to share these photos of Lewis among family and friends. I didn’t expect the response to be as big as this. I didn’t share the pictures at the time it happened because it was just so horrific. Parents need to be aware that this can happen.”
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