What Cold Medicine Can I Take While Pregnant?

Cold And Flu News

Aug. 10, 2023 — A new observation suggests that a life-threatening blood clotting disorder can be caused by an infection with adenovirus, one of the most common respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult ...

Aug. 4, 2023 — In temperate climates, like North America and Europe, flu season starts in the fall, peaks in the winter and ends in the spring. While public health officials have generally assumed that influenza is ...

July 28, 2023 — Scientists showed that fixed mutations within a viral population most likely stem from how easy it is to acquire that mutation (i.E., mutation accessibility) rather than just its ...

July 27, 2023 — A new study of the strain of influenza A responsible for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic -- pdm09 -- shows that the virus has passed from humans to swine about 370 times since 2009, and subsequent circulation ...

July 24, 2023 — Taking a significant leap in the field of vaccine development, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry researchers have discovered a potential 'super molecule' that can bolster the ...

July 24, 2023 — While the incidence of influenza-associated neuropsychiatric events in children in the United States is unknown, the controversy over the use of a common antiviral medication typically administered ...

June 21, 2023 — A new survey finds that the American public is ill-informed about RSV, unfamiliar with its most common symptoms, and more hesitant to recommend a vaccine against it to pregnant people than to older ...

May 31, 2023 — Influenza epidemics, caused by influenza A or B viruses, result in acute respiratory infection. They kill half a million people worldwide every year. These viruses can also wreak havoc on animals, as ...

May 30, 2023 — Scientists found the virus strains that arrived in 2021 soon acquired genes from viruses in wild birds in North America. The resulting reassortant viruses have spread across the continent and caused ...

May 24, 2023 — A new study has shown that human T cells have an important role to play in controlling ...

May 22, 2023 — Researchers were able to identify changes in the accessibility (that is, the 'readability') of transposable elements. To do this, the researchers used an approach combining various sets of ...

May 11, 2023 — Much of what is now considered modern medicine originated as folk remedies or traditional, Indigenous practices. These customs are still alive today, and they could help address a variety of ...

Apr. 25, 2023 — Viruses like influenza A and Ebola invade human cells in a number of steps. Research teams investigated the final stages of viral penetration using electron tomography and computer simulations. ...

Apr. 19, 2023 — A new study shows that exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs) during pregnancy enhances respiratory viral infection risk. According to the researchers, it is imperative that pregnant women in urban ...

Apr. 19, 2023 — A new study tracks arrival and spread of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) decimating wild birds, impacting poultry and pushing up egg prices. The team found that the deadly impact on wild ...

Apr. 13, 2023 — New research has found that First Nations populations around the world are significantly more likely to be hospitalized and die from influenza compared to non-Indigenous ...

Apr. 6, 2023 — The U.S. Experienced an unprecedented number of group A streptococcal infections in children from October to December of 2022, which should alert physicians to check for the potentially deadly ...

Mar. 28, 2023 — Have a cough, sore throat and congestion? Any number of respiratory viruses could be responsible. Today, scientists report using a single-atom-thick nanomaterial to build a device that can ...

Mar. 22, 2023 — Memory B cells play a critical role to provide long-term immunity after a vaccination or infection. Researchers have now described a distinct and novel subset of memory B cells that predict ...

Mar. 22, 2023 — Researchers behind the UK's first pilot public health surveillance system based on analysis of wastewater say that routine monitoring at sewage treatment works could provide a powerful early ...

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Do You Use Cold And Flu Tablets? Here's Why They Might Not Work

Are cold and flu tablets a go-to when you're feeling unwell?

New research from the US has found phenylephrine, the main ingredient in some cold and flu tablets, is no more effective than a placebo. 

University of Sydney's Dean of Pharmacy Professor Andrew McLachlan told Charlie Pickering there's no "convincing evidence" the medicine is useful.

The Cold And Flu Drug You've Relied On For Years Doesn't Work

An advisory panel to the American Food and Drug Administration concluded recently that when taken orally, phenylephrine did not work. The FDA is now considering whether to ban the drug.

In 2006, pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough, funded a study that found phenylephrine "was not significantly different from a placebo".

A 2022 paper Why is Oral Phenylephrine on the Market After Compelling Evidence of Its Ineffectiveness as a Decongestant? Further pressed the issue.

A spokesperson for Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said the regulator was aware of the FDA advisory panel decision and would monitor any actions taken by the US regulator, but would not be removing the drug from the market.

"As new scientific information becomes available ingredients may undergo further evaluation to consider the risk-benefit profile. Sponsors are required to notify the TGA when they become aware of significant new information about the safety, quality, or efficacy of a medicine," they said.

Professor Andrew McLachlan, head of school and dean of pharmacy at the University of Sydney, said phenylephrine was introduced into many cold and flu medications following the tightening of regulations around the sale of pseudoephedrine about a decade ago.

Professor Andrew McLachlan says medicine regulators move slowly when there is no risk of harm.

Pseudoephedrine can be an illicit drug precursor and can be diverted into the manufacture of amphetamine-type drugs. A 24-pack of cold and flu tablets that contain pseudoephedrine will cost consumers about $21.

"The TGA would be looking at this data very closely because it is in many products. Interestingly, most regulators make rapid decisions when there is a safety or harmful risk to consumers, if there were dangerous side effects, the regulator would move very quickly (to remove the drug from shelves)," McLachlan said.

"But when it comes to lack of evidence of efficacy for a medicine that is low risk of harm, regulators move relatively slowly."

He said that many "complementary and herbal medicines" on the market held TGA approval that showed they were high quality and safe for consumption, but that approval did not mean they worked.

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"The TGA puts limits around the claims you can make for what types of benefits (a medication) provides, but they don't test all the evidence," he said.

"We have this system of regulation around the world in major developed countries that relies on checking safety first and efficacy second, but they don't check the efficacy on everything – we might expect that they do that."

McLachlan said the best course of action in case of a cold was to consult your pharmacist.

Smith agreed: "My advice to any friends who have a cold, is to hand over your licence and say you want the active ingredient (pseudoephedrine). Those nasal sprays are excellent, but use as directed by your pharmacist."

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