THURSDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) — Children given
acetaminophen during the first year of life to reduce fever are
more likely to develop asthma later on, a new study finds. These
children are also more likely to develop rhinoconjunctivitis and
eczema when they reach age 6 to 7, according to the report in
the Sept. 20 issue of The Lancet. “If this association is
causative, it would suggest that acetaminophen use is a risk
factor for asthma and may explain the asthma has become more
common,” said lead researcher Dr. Richard Beasley, from the
Medical Research Institute of New Zealand in Wellington. Since
this study can’t definitively say that acetaminophen is a cause
of asthma, its use for children shouldn’t be changed, Beasley
added. “Acetaminophen is the preferred drug for relief of pain
and fever in childhood,” he said. Beasley thinks, however,
acetaminophen should not be used routinely for childhood fever,
but reserved for high fevers. “Acetaminophen is still the
preferred agent, but the large amounts of