Health Update: Not for children

MANY parents still give their children aspirin for conditions such as headache, toothache and flu, despite warnings that aspirin can cause Reye's syndrome, a rare and sometimes fatal disorder of the brain and liver, say researchers writing in the Pharmaceutical Journal.

Because of aspirin's association with Reye's syndrome, which is almost entirely confined to children under 15, paediatric aspirin preparations were withdrawn and aspirin labelling has been changed to warn against giving the painkiller to children.