Those children who are getting vaccinated against COVID should not be taking paracetamol before consulting a doctor first, as per the advice given by doctors in Delhi.
This advice came as a response to those immunisation centres that were asking children to take three paracetamol 500 mg tablets after the jab. Health experts warned that taking paracetamol without consulting a doctor first can be harmful.
Dr Akshay Budhraja, Senior Consultant, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Aakash Healthcare said that, "Paracetamol is not recommended as prophylaxis, before and after any COVID vaccination as we don't know how it alters the immune response of the vaccine." While Dr Col Vijay Dutta, Senior Consultant - Internal Medicine, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, shared that, "Giving paracetamol to children (15-18 years old) who are receiving COVID vaccines is not recommended. It is because it has the potential to cause hepatotoxicity (liver damage caused by drug exposure) in them."
Aches, fatigue, headache, soreness at the injection site and low-grade fever are common after the first two days of vaccination and they tend to subside on their own sans any medication.
"However, if the fever persists or the intensity increases then paracetamol or other painkiller is advised after consultation with a physician. So paracetamol is to be taken only after consultation and not as prophylaxis for fever, which happens because of the immune response of the body to the vaccine components," Budhraja added, as per a report in IANS. Dutta said that Mefenamic acid or Meftal syrup can be given if children develop a fever while paracetamol is safe for adults over the age of 18 with fever.
In a previous instance, the developer of India's first indigenous COVID vaccine Bharat Biotech had also issued a statement saying there is no need for either paracetamol or painkillers after the inoculation.
New COVID cases touched 1,17,100 on January 7 from 90,928 cases on January 6. The country's Omicron infection tally has reached 3,007. On January 5, India achieved one crore vaccination milestone for people between the 15-18 age group and as of Friday morning, 149.66 crore adults have been vaccinated.
