Honey eases acute cough in children
Citation: Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, et al. Honey for acute cough in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018; (4): CD007094
What is this? Most people with COVID-19 will develop a persistent cough. Honey is used to ease cough in children.
In this Cochrane systematic review, the authors searched for randomised trials of the effects of honey for children with an acute cough. They did not restrict by type or language of publication and did their search in February 2018. They identified 6 placebo-controlled randomised trials (899 participants).
What works: Honey probably relieves cough symptoms more than no treatment, diphenhydramine, and placebo in children aged 1 to 16 years.
What doesn’t work: Honey should not be given to children under 1 year of age.
What’s uncertain: Nothing noted.