(Oct 25) OVER the last five days, my son has been visited by a persistent cough. But this cough seems to be a nocturnal creature, appearing after the moon comes out.

The only thing stopping my wife from giving him cough syrup is my distaste for medicine, unless it is absolutely necessary, and my son's assurance to her that he is all right.

But, like any mother, she can't just watch him cough so she applies Vicks vaporub on his chest and nose when the gap between coughs gets a little too narrow.

Fortunately, a marked decrease in the frequency of the coughing over the last two days has caused her to desist from insisting he take the cough mixture. He's happy he does not have to resist.

Too many people, I think, rush to take cough mixture at the slightest irritation of a cough.

And too many parents find it the easiest way of ridding themselves of the agony of watching their child suffer cough and cold, particularly if it's a baby or toddler.

I can't count the number of times I was given cough and cold medicines when I was young. I'm sure you have taken them too, for doctors are quite liberal in dispensing decongestants and antihistamines.

That is why I was shocked to learn that these cough mixtures and cold medicines do not work.

Worse, they can cause complications, including death, if not taken in accordance with the doctor's prescription.

One study done in the United States showed that more than 100 children died due to the improper use of decongestants and antihistamines between 1996 and 2006.

Another report, from the Center for Disease Control, said 1,519 toddlers in the US were treated for side effects associated with the use of cough and cold medicines, including overdoses between 2004 and 2005.

One of the more prominent cases is that involving the Henderson sisters of Colorado, US. Five-year-old Killian and Rhapsody, 4, were given several teaspoons of cherry-flavoured cough syrup before they went to bed in February 2003. They never woke up. Their father, Robert, was later charged with negligent homicide for giving them an overdose of the generic cough mixture.

There is no evidence, an independent expert panel in the United States concluded on Oct 18, to show that cough and cold medicines are effective.

In fact, the advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration recommended against giving such medicine to children below 6.

After deliberating on the safety of cough suppressants, decongestants and antihistamine agents, it said these medicines could pose a danger to the lives of children if not administered properly.

Among the risks associated with the drugs, the panel said, were heartbeat irregularities and even death.

I found this piece of news very troubling: The panel said some of the medicines being given to children had never been tested.

One of the panel members, University of Pennsylvania epidemiologist Sean Hennessy, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: "The data that we have now is they don't seem to work."

The panel found that the 11 studies on children published over the last 50 years did not show proof that the medicines worked.

It has recommended that manufacturers be made to print the words "Do Not Use" on the labels. It also wants manufacturers to conduct trials to determine the efficacy of the remedies on children and the best doses for them.

Interestingly, the panel found no evidence that the medicines worked on children older than 6. But it did not recommend that they should also be barred from taking the medicines.

A week before the panel met, drug manufacturers recalled 14 leading over-the-counter infant cough and cold medicines. It's obvious they knew what the outcome of the meeting was likely to be.

According to doctors, problems arise when parents give a high dosage over a short period of time or when, finding that one brand of medicine does not work, they switch immediately to giving another.

I am not sure of the situation in Malaysia. I don't know of any recall of cough and cold medicines and I haven't heard of any warning or advice from the Health Ministry.

It is safe to assume, I suppose, that neither the pharmaceuticals nor the ministry -- in what has now come to be part of Malaysian administrative culture -- want to "alarm" the public.

And anyway, there is much money riding on the drug business.

I wonder if the ministry has ever carried out studies on the efficacy of cough mixtures on children in Malaysia. I wonder if the ministry keeps tabs on all medicines sold locally.

Does it, for instance, have its own checks or does it just depend on the research results shown by pharmaceuticals? Or perhaps it follows the leadership of the FDA and other nation's watchdog agencies.

Certainly some people would say they have been taking cough and cold medicines since young and it has had no adverse effect on them.

They may be right, of course. But then again, how do they know if some physical problem or disease they now have is not connected to the doses they took?

The upshot of all this is that parents will have to be extra careful. The best advice would be to take drugs only on the doctor's advice and to adhere strictly to the recommended dosage.

For coughs and colds, I usually let my body mend itself. I must say it has done an admirable job so far. I'm glad to say that my son's immune system is doing great too.

Love and a cough cannot be hid.-- George Herbert