Study Found No Link Between Tylenol Use in Infants Under 1 and Eczema, Asthma
Prior research had raised the question of whether or not using acetaminophen instead of ibuprofen corresponded with higher rates of eczema and bronchiolitis in infants under 1 year old.
Infants given acetaminophen before they turned 1 were “no more likely to develop eczema or bronchiolitis…than those given ibuprofen.” CIDRAP has the news.
A randomized controlled trial had its results published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, probing a possible link between “acetaminophen use in the first year of life and the development of eczema and asthma later on.” The study enrolled 3,908 infants “younger than 8 weeks old at three sites in Auckland and Wellington [in New Zealand] from April 2018 to July 2023.” Around half of the infants were randomized to the acetaminophen group and half to the ibuprofen group.
When the infants were 1, “eczema was reported in 322 (16.2%) of infants in the acetaminophen group and 296 (15.4%) in the ibuprofen group. Bronchiolitis occurred in 98 participants (4.9%) in the acetaminophen group and 82 participants (4·3%) in the ibuprofen group.” These numbers indicate “low risk with no significant statistical [difference] between the two drugs.”
Research will be ongoing on any links to increased risk of asthma, but for now, the study authors say this randomized trial “provides high-quality reassurance about the safety of [acetaminophen] and ibuprofen use in infancy.”
