Paracetamol linked to child asthma

The research, published in The Lancet, found that giving paracetamol to children in the first year of life mean that child had triple the risk of developing asthma and the allergic nose condition rhino conjunctivitis, and a double risk of eczema.
 
"This study provides worldwide evidence that the use of paracetamol in childhood can increase the risk of developing asthma and related allergic disorders," said the study leader Professor Richard Beasley, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

But the authors of the study said that there was insufficient evidence to advise parents and health care workers of the risk.

"Paracetamol remains the preferred drug to relieve pain and fever in children," they wrote.

"However the findings do lend support to the current guidelines of the World Health Organization, which recommend that paracetamol should not be used routinely, but should be reserved for children with a high fever."

The study involved more than 200,000 children from 31 countries including Australia.