Oscillococcinum for children: instructions for use

Viral infections occur in children very often, especially if they are in a children's team or public places. For the prevention of acute respiratory disease or for the treatment of the disease, if it was not possible to avoid it, homeopathic preparations are often used. One of the most popular means of such a group is called Otsillococcinum. Can I give it to children and in what dosage?

Oscillococcinum is produced by a French company "Boiron" only in one form, which is granules, which dissolve easily upon contact with water or saliva. They have a white color, almost spherical shape and no smell. These granules taste sweet.

They are placed in plastic white tubes of 1 gram each. One such tube is one dose of the drug. The granules in it are tightly closed with a polyethylene stopper. Tubes are packed in blisters of 3 pieces each, and in one box there are 2, 4 or 10 blisters (from 6 to 30 doses).

The active component of the granules is the extract, which is obtained from the organs of the musk (it is also called barbarian) duck. The substances extracted from the liver and the heart of such a bird are diluted up to 10 to minus 400 degrees. To make the product sweet and quickly dissolved in the mouth, the active ingredients are combined with sucrose and lactose.

Ocillococcinum refers to homeopathic remedies that are recommended to be taken at the first manifestations of ARD - fever, cough, headaches, chills, body aches, sore throat, rhinitis, and others. The active ingredient granules according to many studies able to improve the condition of patients and facilitate the course of viral infection. However, the mechanism of the effect of the extract on viruses or the human immune system is not described by the manufacturer.

Most often, Oscillococcinum is prescribed for influenza, which has a mild or moderate course. In addition, the granules can be used for other acute respiratory diseases provoked by viruses.

There is no age limit for the drug, so Ocillococcinum can be given to both babies or toddlers attending kindergarten, and schoolchildren and adolescents. The tool is called harmless, but it is recommended to use in children after a doctor's prescription, because sometimes complex therapy is required, which also requires other medications.

Granules should not be given to children who have hypersensitivity to their components. For example, due to the presence in the preparation of milk sugar Oscillococcinum is contraindicated in patients with both lactase deficiency and lactose intolerance. You should not take this tool in case of a hereditary violation of the assimilation of glucose-galactose, which is called malabsorption.

According to the data in the annotation to the granules, they do not cause any side effects. However, in extremely rare cases, the use of Oscillococcinum can cause allergic reaction.

To open the drug, you need to click on the blister from the transparent side, squeeze out one tube and then open it. The method of taking Oscillococcinum depends on the child's age:

• If a baby is given a remedy, the granules are dissolved in water and the resulting solution is poured into a bottle, and then given through the nipple.
• The smallest drug can also be given with a spoon, after having dissolved the contents of the tube in a small volume of water.
• Older patients can pour granules directly into the oral cavity (under the tongue) and ask to keep them in the mouth until they are completely dissolved in saliva.

The age of the patient does not affect the dosage, but it depends on the stage of the disease:

• If a viral infection has just begun to manifest itself with negative symptoms, the first dose of Oscillococcinum should be taken as soon as possible. If the progression of the disease has not stopped, it is recommended to dissolve or swallow the dissolved drug every 2-3 hours for another 2-3 times.
• If the granules are prescribed in the midst of the disease, they should be taken within 1-3 days twice a day - one dose in the morning and one more in the evening.
• If the drug is recommended for prophylactic purposes, then it is given to the child in the season of the spread of ARVI once a week in a single dose.

There have been no cases when a very large dose of Oscillococcinum had a harmful effect.

The use of granules does not interfere with the treatment of other homeopathic remedies, as well as any medication, including antiviral, antibacterial, antipyretic and other medicines.

To buy an Oscillococcinum at a pharmacy, you are not required to show a prescription from a doctor. The average price of a box, inside of which is 6 doses, varies from 340 to 380 rubles, for a pack with 12 tubes you need to pay about 600-700 rubles, and a package with 30 doses costs about 1,400 rubles.

The shelf life of sealed tubes is 5 years. Prior to its completion, the Oscillococcinum should be stored at a temperature not higher than 25 degrees Celsius, picking up a place in which the granules will not reach the children and will not be exposed to direct sunlight.

On the use of Oscillococcinum with SARS or influenza, there are both good and negative reviews. In positive reviews, parents who trust in homeopathy call this remedy effective and harmless. They praise the granules for a pleasant taste, convenient form of release, the ability to give children and buy without a prescription.

According to them, taking 1-2 doses allowed to stop the development of the disease at the earliest stage or to transfer the infection more easily. Despite the rather high cost, these mothers are called Ocillococcinum advantageous means, because its reception helps to avoid the use of other medicines (antitussives, antibiotics, expectorants, etc.).

At the same time, you can see a lot of negative reviews, in which the Oscillococcinum is called placebo and pacifier. In them, mothers complain that the drug had no effect on the disease and the child had to be given other medicines that act on viruses.

Many doctors who support evidence-based medicine also speak negatively of Oscillococcinum. Among them is the popular pediatrician Komarovsky, who considers homeopathic granules, although harmless, but absolutely useless. However, the drug very popular in francewhere it is sold without a prescription and is the most popular anti-flu remedy.

However, many doctors oppose homeopathy and declare that the mechanism of action of the extract from the internal organs of the duck on the immune system is incomprehensible, and the dilution of the active substances is so great that the granules can be called ordinary sugar balls.

The positive effect of taking Oscillococcinum in the first days of the disease, such doctors associate with the activity of the immune response of a particular patient (the body itself actively opposes the virus and the disease does not develop).

And so the question of whether to give Otsillococcinum to a sick child must be addressed individually, considering the attitude of parents to homeopathic treatmentand the condition of the little patient.

Other homeopathic remedies (among them there are cheaper ones) that have a similar effect can be the replacement of the Oscillococcinum:

• Drops aflubin on the basis of gentian, brionium, iron phosphate, aconite and lactic acid. They can be prescribed for acute respiratory viral infections, colds, flu and various inflammatory diseases from birth. There are also tablets Aflubin appointed from 5 years of age.
• Agri children. Such a homeopathic remedy that helps in the treatment of acute respiratory diseases, contains brionium, iron phosphate and other substances. Tablet form is used in children from 1 year, and granules - from the age of three.

• Viburcol. At the heart of such rectal candles, allowed for children of any age, substances from belladonna, chamomile, nightshade, pulsatilla and plantain. These suppositories are in demand in many inflammatory processes.
• Anaferon. Such tablets for children contain antibodies to interferon, which have undergone special purification. They are allowed for patients older than 1 month and are used for viral infections or for their prevention.

• Ergoferon. The basis of this solution is also antibodies to interferons, but other substances have been added to them. The drug is prescribed to children 3 years and older for the treatment of rotavirus enteritis, chickenpox, whooping cough, herpes and other infections. It is also available in tablets approved from six months of age.
• Influcid. These homeopathic tablets include substances from aconite, bryonia, helzemia, and others. They are used for colds and flu in patients older than three years. There is also a liquid form of Influcid (drop), which is prescribed from 12 years of age.

In addition to homeopathic drugs, the replacement of Ocillococcinum can also be antiviral drugs (Kagocel, Arbidol, Orvirem, Amizonchik, etc.), and immunostimulating agents (Grippferon, Viferon, etc.), but their use without the advice of the attending physician is not recommended.