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Show Pediatric Medicines: Bane Op A Boon? Colds and upper respiratory tract infections arej:ommon in children this time.of year. A winter illness often means a prescription of antibiotics, many of .which have to be refrigerated refri-gerated so they, won't lose their effectiveness. MANY pediatric antibiotics such as ampicillin and penicillin penicil-lin look and taste like they would be good to eat. cautions the Intermountain Regional Poison Control Center, so parents pa-rents have to be careful about how the medication is stored. "Many sma.H children are able to retrieve things from refrigerators re-frigerators and-wi'4 frequently help themselves Lo anything kept there." says Ms. Diane E. Wallace, poison information pharmacist at University of Utah Medical Center. "Because "Be-cause of the pleasant flavor, youngsters might poison themselves them-selves by eating too much of the medication." MS. WALLACE offers several sev-eral suggestions on how to avoid an accidental ingestion of liquid antibiotics: . -Store the antibiotic .as high '' and close to the back wall of the refrigerator as possible. - ASK YOUR pharmacist to use child-resistant closures on all medication containers and after each use. close the lid properly and wipe excess medicine from the cap. -Tell all of yourchildren that the product is medicine and is intended only for the sick child. Also, only adults should administer medication. -DISPENSE the medicine as recommended by your physician. physi-cian. Even with refrigeration, the potency of any antibiotic falls significantly within 14 days, so discard any unused medication after two weeks. "hortunately. diarrhea and vomiting are the most serious symptoms of an accidental ingestion ing-estion of a pediatric antibiotic." antibio-tic." says Ms. Wallace. QUESTIONS about the storage stor-age and use of pediatric medications medi-cations can be phoned to the Poison Control Center at 581-2151 581-2151 or 800-662-4225 (outside the Salt Lake area). |