Comparison of Efficacy and Tolerability of Two Cough Syrups in Cough Due to Cold in Children.

Cough is a life saving reflex, therefore it is important, especially in pediatrics, to calm cough spells without sedating the reflex. Mucolytic agents have been shown to be helpful but side effects have been reported and use has been prohibited under 2 years of age. Therefore, a completely safe and effective cough remedy has not been officially reported yet in a randomised trial. Looking into other mechanisms for cough management such as protection of irritated pharynx mucosa from post nasal drip or other irritating substances is theoretically sound and shows practical interesting results. A parallel comparison of efficacy and tolerability between such protective mechanism (acting through a barrier and radical scavenging action) due to natural substances (honey, plantago lanceolata, grindelia robusta and helichrysum italicum) and a mucolytic substance has not been done so far, in young children, especially in a time frame of 4 days. The intent of this study is to use the protective syrup versus carbocysteine in children with moderate to severe night and daily cough, measured with a validated parent questionnaire. The invasiveness of cough is followed immediately after one night administration of the study products and daily for four days. A similar effectiveness of the protective cough syrup as compared to carbocisteine is considered very interesting due to the mechanism of the remedy.