AP-Licking the Flu

Drop under the tongue could replace needles for flu vaccination

    WASHINGTON (AP) _ Relief may be on the way for kids who tremble at the thought of another needle jab. One day the flu vaccine may simply be placed under the tongue.
    Korean researchers say two doses of influenza vaccine under the tongue of mice primed the animals’ immune system to fight off what would otherwise have been a deadly dose of flu.
    Researchers say placing a couple of drops of liquid under the tongue gets the vaccine directly to mucus membranes and prompts a response both in mucus tissues throughout the body as well as in the immune system itself.
    Next, they are turning their attention to people to see if the under-the-tongue vaccine also prompts a strong immune response in humans.
    The findings appeared in today’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

AP-Cold Medicines

Government: Cold meds send about 7,000 children yearly to hospital ERs

    ATLANTA (AP) _ The government says children taking cough and cold medicines without supervision is the biggest reason the medicines send about 7,000 children to the emergency room each year.
    A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about two-thirds of the cases were children who took the medicines unsupervised. About one-quarter involved cases in which parents gave the proper dosage and an allergic reaction or some other problem developed.
    The study included both over-the-counter and prescription medicines. It also comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned parents that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines are too dangerous for children younger than 2.
    About 1,600 of the estimated 7,100 children sent to emergency rooms each year are under the age of 2.