At the heart of cold and influenza medication – clinical use today

Learning objectives:

• To review and understand the role of decongestants, antihistamines and cough suppressants in cold and influenza medication in the light of new data from clinical trials, advances in histamine pharmacology and data on adverse effects (AEs) and potential abuse of these medications
• The selection of effective and ‘least-likely to provoke abuse’ formulations of cold and influenza medication
• The avoidance of analgesics in cold and influenza medication that have been shown to cause serious AEs in children
• The rationale underpinning vigorous discouragement of antimicrobial prescribing for common cold and influenza.