In 2013, a review of the use of codeine in medicines for children had been made and Health had contraindicated it as an analgesic in children under 12 years.
Now given the evidence, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), under the Ministry of Health, has banned the use of pediatric drugs with codeine for the treatment of cough in children under 12 years and in women during breastfeeding. Nor does it recommend it in children under 18 with respiratory problems.
Codeine is an opioid (it may sound to you because of the addiction that Dr. House had to her) authorized to treat pain of mild or moderate intensity and unproductive cough, and until now it was also used to treat cough associated with processes catarrhal in children.
But it is not harmless. Upon entering the body, codeine reacts with an enzyme present in the body and transforms into morphine. Not everyone has the same amount of that enzyme, and the effects on children depending on how quickly the codeine is metabolized can become very dangerous. There have even been cases of serious poisoning, in some fatal cases, by the use of codeine. Also, if a woman is breastfeeding and is an ultra-fast metabolizer of codeine, it could pass to the baby.
Codeine medications
According to information from the AEMPS Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database in Primary Care (BIFAP), for children between 2 and 11 years old, codeine is mainly used in cough syrups such as Codeisan, Toseína, Histaverín, Bisoltus, just like him Paracetamol Codeine.
In medicines for children under 2 years of age its use is practically non-existent. In any case, you should always read the leaflet to see if the medicine we are going to give is approved for use in children.
