[Use of aspirin for fever by Russian immigrant children]

This study describes the therapeutic drug approach in fever in Russian immigrant children. 974 recent immigrants with their 208 children were under medical treatment at 2 primary care clinics during 1991-1995. They came from 10 republics of the Commonwealth of Independence States (CIS, formerly the Soviet Union). In the CIS more than 3/4 of children aged 1-18 years had been given aspirin for fever. Immigrants brought with them stocks of drugs and their children continued to take them as they had in the CIS. This form of treatment is described in the official CIS pharmacology book without any mention of potential danger. Use of aspirin for fever may be an important factor in the severe hepatic injury and encephalopathy seen in Reye's syndrome. Only after intervention of the family physician did the immigrants stop this dangerous use of aspirin. During the study Reye's syndrome was not seen. Since in Israel purchase of aspirin does not require a physician's prescription, family physicians and pediatricians should be aware of the potential deleterious effects of aspirin in fever among children.