Prospan syrup for children: instructions for use

If a child suffers from dry, exhausting cough and coughs up sputum with difficulty, which worsens his condition and interferes with sleep, parents try to help the crumbs as quickly as possible and eliminate such unpleasant symptom with the help of expectorant drugs. At the same time, I want to give the baby a safe and at the same time effective medicine, therefore, they often resort to herbal remedies, one of which is Prospan.

So that the child does not protest against the medication, it is released in the form of a tasty syrup. How does it affect the respiratory system, in what dosage is assigned to babies, is it allowed for infants and what analogs can it be replaced with?

Prospan syrup is produced by the German company Engelhard Arzneimittel in dark glass bottles containing 100 or 200 ml of a slightly hazy light brown thick liquid that smells like cherry. For convenient and accurate dosing on top of the bottle there is an additional plastic stopper dispenser.

In addition, there is a batch version of the release of the syrup, called Prospan sachet. This is a box with 21 bags of 5 ml of medicine in each. In addition to the syrup Prospan also represented by drops. In this form, the drug is not only given to the child to drink, but also used for nebulizing inhalations, diluting with pure water 1: 2. Prospan has no other forms (capsules, tablets, ampoules, etc.).

Prospan action due to the hood, which is obtained from the leaves of ivy climbing. It is presented in the medicine in the form of a dry extract at a dose of 7 mg per 1 ml of syrup. One portion packet of Prospan Sachet contains 35 mg of extract. To get the hood, apply 30% ethyl alcohol, but in the process of drying the raw material, it completely evaporates.

To ensure that the medication is liquid, sweet in taste and does not deteriorate during storage, xanthan gum, liquid sorbitol, potassium sorbate, purified water and citric acid are added to it. In addition to these components, there is levomenthol in Prospana Sasha. The pleasant smell of the medicine is due to the presence of flavoring - cherry in syrup in a bottle and orange in portion sachets. This syrup does not contain sugar, dyes and alcohol.

Biologically active substances that are contained in the extract of ivy, have the ability to make the mucus released in the respiratory tract more liquid, which helps it cough. Such effects Prospana called mucolytic and expectorant.

Studies have also confirmed the presence of some antimicrobial and antifungal effects in Prospan.

Prospan is prescribed to children who cough, but the sputum with this cough is too viscous, so it is painful and unproductive. The drug helps with acute respiratory infections, bronchitis, tracheobronchitis, cystic fibrosis, pharyngitis and other diseases. It is indicated both in acute inflammatory process and in chronic diseases.

Prospan in the form of syrup is considered safe for children and used even in infants.Such a remedy can be prescribed to both children of 6 months, and 2–3-year-old babies, schoolchildren or older patients. Prospan sachet is discharged from the age of 6 because the opened bag is not stored.

Reception Prospana is prohibited for children with:

• fructose intolerance;
• hypersensitivity to any component of the syrup;
• glucose-galactose malabsorption;
• lack of isomaltase / sucrase.

Since the base of Prospan is herbal, this medicine can cause an allergic reaction. In addition, in some patients, the use of syrup provokes stool liquefaction. This side effect is associated with the presence in the composition of the drug sorbitol.

Syrup give the child a drink, pouring it into a measuring cup. Before taking the medicine should be shaken, to settle the ingredients on the bottom evenly mixed. If Prospan Sachet is used, then the bag is kneaded with fingers before use.

The dosage of the drug in childhood is as follows:

• If the child is not yet one year old, he is advised to give 2.5 ml of Prospan twice a day.
• Small patients between the ages of 1 year and six years, a single dose of syrup will also be 2.5 ml, but you can take this medicine three times a day.
• Schoolchildren or teenagers give the drug 3 times a day, 5 ml per dose. Over the age of 6 years old, you can also use portioned sachets - one sachet at a time.

The duration of treatment with Prospan is affected by the course of the disease, but the drug is not prescribed for less than one week. In addition, when the symptoms of the disease have disappeared, the syrup is advised to drink a few more days to fix its effect.

If a child drank a lot of syrup at one time (more than 7.5 ml for children under 6 years old and more than 15 ml for patients 7 years and older), this causes a feeling of nausea, changes in stool or bouts of vomiting. With such an accidental overdose, the drug is immediately canceled, and the child is shown to the doctor. With a slight excess of the dosage (less than three times), no negative effects often occur.

Like many other means with expectorant action, Prospan syrup should not be given to children at the same time as drugs that block the cough reflex. With this combination of medications, the child’s condition will worsen, because the antitussive medicine will make it difficult to separate the sputum, which will become liquefied due to Prospan. Simultaneous treatment with antibiotics or antiviral drugs is not prohibited.

In accordance with the instructions, the storage conditions are as follows:

• Prospan in the form of syrup, as well as the drug in drops, refers to non-prescription drugs. This means that it is freely sold in pharmacies to anyone who wishes. But if such a medicine is bought for a child, you should first consult a specialist to make sure that it is advisable.
• The average price of a bottle of 100 milliliters is 400-450 rubles, and for a package with 200 milliliters of syrup, you need to pay from 700 to 850 rubles. One box of Prospan sachet costs about 540 rubles.
• The shelf life of this form of Prospan is 3 years, but after opening the bottle, it is reduced to 3 months. The shelf life of sealed portions is also 3 years.
• The recommended storage temperature for syrup is up to 25 degrees Celsius. Since the medicine is sweet and smells good, it is important to safely hide it from small children in order to eliminate overdose.

Prospan in the form of syrup receives mostly good reviews from parents. Moms like that the medicine is safe, does not contain alcohol and harmful dyes, very rarely provokes unpleasant side symptoms and is allowed even for the smallest patients. Prospan sachet is praised for a convenient package, because it does not need to be diluted or measured with a spoon, but you just need to open the bag and pour the syrup into your mouth.

The taste of the drug, most children find it pleasant and do not protest against this medicine. But the main advantage of Prospan call it a fairly quick therapeutic effect. According to moms, such a drug after a few days of taking completely eliminates cough. The disadvantages of drugs include only a short shelf life and high price.

If you cannot use Prospan for one reason or another, you can replace it with another medicine based on ivy. Such means are drugs:

• Gedelix. This medicine, like Prospan, is produced and in syrup (he is given from birth), and in drops (they are contraindicated until the age of 2).
• Herbion ivy syrup. The concentration of the active ingredient in this preparation also amounts to 7 mg / 1 ml, however, in contraindications, the manufacturer noted the age up to 2 years.

In addition, instead of Prospan, you can use other herbal medicines that have expectorant effects, for example:

• Bronchipret. The extract from the leaves of ivy in this medication is supplemented with another plant extract from thyme herb. Children are most often prescribed Bronchipret in syrup, because it can be given from three months of age. However, the drug is released in drops, but due to the high concentration of active compounds, this form is prescribed only from 6 years.
• Bronhikum. This honey-smelling syrup acts on the bronchi through thyme extract. For the treatment of children, it can be used from the age of six months. There is also the drug Bronhikum TP, which is a fragrant elixir. In its composition, an extract of primrose was added to the thyme extract. This medication is prescribed to young patients older than 1 year.

• Dry cough syrup. This medicine includes extracts of licorice and althea, as well as anise oil and some other components with anti-inflammatory and expectorant effects. The drug is released dry in bottles or paper bags. After mixing with water, this medicine can be given in a dose prescribed by a doctor for a child of any age.
• Althea syrup. Expectorant, emollient and enveloping effect of this medication due to the extract from the Althea root. The doctor may prescribe this drug from birth, but because of the high risk of allergies, it is undesirable to give this syrup to babies up to a year.
• Pulmeks baby. This tool is an ointment based on Peruvian balsam and essential oils from eucalyptus and rosemary. This medicine lubricates the chest of children older than 6 months.

• Syrup Dr. Theiss. The effect of this drug on mucus in the respiratory tract is associated with the presence of plantain in the extract. The drug is used in the treatment of children older than a year.
• Linkus. Such a herbal preparation with many components allowed for children 6 months and older. It effectively fights inflammation in the bronchi and makes sputum more liquid.

In addition to herbal remedies, children with a dry cough can also be given medicines based on acetylcysteine, ambroxol, bromhexine, guaifenesin, or carbocysteine. Such remedies also have a pronounced expectorant effect, but also have their own contraindications. In addition, some of them are contraindicated for infants or children up to 3 years.

Dr. Komarovsky will tell you about cough medicine for children in the next video.