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Echinacea is a popular herbal remedy. There have been trials suggesting it may benefit adults with sore throats, cough and fever - upper respiratory infections - although it's far from proven. Echinacea is a popular herbal remedy. There have been trials suggesting it may benefit adults with sore throats, cough and fever - upper respiratory infections - although it's far from proven. Parents give their children echinacea too, in the absence of much else that's effective. Naturopaths and children's physicians in Seattle trialled Echinacea purpurea in two - eleven year olds with symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. Echinacea purpurea is one of the common varieties. 700 infections were analysed in over 500 children - and compared to placebo there were no differences in symptom severity or duration and this held for younger and older age groups, whether the child was in day care or was given paracetamol or antibiotics. Those children taking echinacea were more likely to experience a rash. It's always possible that different doses or different echinacea preparations might work better but the evidence from other research doesn't support that strongly. The one thing which did turn up was that children given echinacea had fewer subsequent colds. The authors didn't design the study to detect this, so it may not be real. So pause for thought before spending hard-earned cash next time the wee one has a cold.
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