A warning has been issued to parents about the danger of using ibuprofen to treat chickenpox .
Families quite often use paracetamol and ibuprofen to treat childhood illnesses but some are unaware of the danger of giving the latter when a child has the pox.
That's because it's an anti-inflammatory and can increase the chance of certain infections and skin reactions.
It's not the first time the warning has been issued and there have been numerous cases of parents sharing photos of their children suffering the effects of mistakenly being given the medicine.
But now a new warning, shared on the Care Champions Facebook page , has quickly gone viral as people share the reminder not to use the drug.
The notice, which stems from an earlier St John Ambulance post, states: "Chickenpox is going around again! Please remember NOT to give your children nurofen/ibuprofen if you think your child has it.
"This type of medicine is an anti-inflammatory. It reacts with the chickenpox making them go deeper into the skin tissue, potentially causing a more severe secondary infection.
It lists "better options" as:
- Paracetamol for fever
- Calamine lotion for the itch
- Keep your child hydrated
The post, which has been shared 19,000 times, shows an image of a child with chickenpox alongside smaller pictures of what happens to the sores if ibuprofen is given.
Megan Moffat's daughter Mila caught chickenpox from her older brother Luka when she was just 15 weeks old.
Even without being given ibuprofen, Megan says her condition rapidly deteriorated and she stressed the need to follow the guidelines over treatment to avoid making it worse.
Megan, who gave her children antihistamine and used calamine lotion on their spots, told the M.E.N's Manchester Family : "It was one of the most severe cases the consultants at the local hospital have seen.
"Mila ended up with a bacterial infection and showing signs of pneumonia - this wasn't with ibuprofen so just think of the consequences if she had been given it."
The 29-year-old, whose daughter is now 11 months and fully recovered from the illness, added: "It always gets talked down, one of the doctors sent me home with her saying 'it's only chicken pox' and I just want people to know that it shouldn't be talked about like that.
"It can be very severe and isn't just a simple virus."
There is a vaccination against chickenpox, but it is not part of the routine childhood vaccination schedule in the UK, and is currently only available on the NHS for those who are at high risk of spreading the virus to particularly vulnerable people.
In 2017, Superdrug became the very first high street retailer to offer the vaccination .
