A spoonful of sugar helps...

Thursday May 13th, 2010

Mary Poppins sang it in the children's classic - and now experts say it is true: a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down.

A new analysis of vaccination finds that giving children a dose of sugar or glucose reduces pain and makes the patient more comfortable.

The findings, published today, apply to infants under the age of 12 months.

An international team from Canada, Australia and Brazil set out to establish whether the practice has been proved to relieve pain.

They found 14 pieces of research, covering more than 1,600 vaccinations, and found that all but one showed a dose of a sweet substance reduced crying by infants.

Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, the researchers write: "Healthcare professionals responsible for administering immunisations should consider using sucrose or glucose during painful procedures.

"This information is important for healthcare professionals working with infants in both inpatient and out-patient settings, as sweet solutions are readily available, have a very short onset of time to analgesia, are
inexpensive and are easy to administer."

* A second study today says males and females may respond to vaccines differently.

Writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers highlight the swine flu vaccine - which they say works better on women.

Researcher Dr Andrew Pekosz, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, said: "An understanding and appreciation of the effect of sex and pregnancy on immune responses might change the strategies used by public health officials to start efficient vaccination programs, optimising the timing and dose of vaccines so that the maximum number of people are immunised."

Arch Dis Child 2010; doi:10.1136/adc.2009.174227

Tags: Australia | Child Health | Flu & Viruses | North America | Pain Relief

Printer friendly page