'Google doctors' putting their kids in harm’s way: Physicians
BENGALURU: “My son is one year and 10 months old and weighs 11 kgs. He started vomiting and had loose motions for the last four days. We have been giving him Enterogermina oral suspension twice a day and, for the first two days, we administered him Ondem before food. Now, vomiting and loose motions have stopped,” said a parent, who had bought Enterogermina over the counter. Asked how he narrowed down on the drugs, the 31-year-old said, “I Googled extensively and since Enterogermina is a probiotic and not an antibiotic, we administered it on our child as it would do him no harm.”
He is not alone. With technology at their fingertips, many parents across the city have turned to Google to self-medicate. Most of them boast of their knowledge of medicines and administer drugs on their children after researching on the internet.
“I call these new-age parents of the city as Google doctors. As far as children are concerned, parents should not rely on over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. They should realise that Google cannot replace a one-on-one with a physician,” stressed Dr Asha Benakappa, in-charge Medical Superintendent, Vani Vilas hospital. Dr Benakappa said that she and her team have to deal with such parents on a daily basis. “We advise them not to do it, as it would do more harm than good,” she said.
“For that matter, no medicine should be sold without prescription. There are chances of overmedicating a child and the parents should be warned about the negative consequences," said Dr Bhaskar Shenoy, senior consultant, paediatrics, and chief of division of paediatric and infectious diseases, Manipal Hospital.
He said that nearly 75 per cent of the parents come after they have Googled medicines and started giving doses of probiotics and antibiotics to their children, who are suffering from diarrhoea. “For children, there is no medication to treat diarrhoea and make it stop at once. It happens because of viral infection of the gut and the body will flush out the virus. During that time, the infant might pass loose stool ten to 15 times a day. Zinc and probiotics help them to recoup,” he said.
