A new research was released saying lidocaine could help babies be numb from the pain of vaccination. This study was published on December 12 via the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The New York Times shared this new study that could ease the pain that babies get during vaccination. Parents are encouraged to apply some lidocaine cream on the surface of the baby's skin where the needle is supposed to be injected. Scientists sampled 352 babies who are below 12 months old using four experiments. One with placebo, a video tutorial on how to soothe an infant during vaccination, a video tutorial with sugar to give the baby and lastly, sugar given to the baby orally with lidocaine applied on the skin's baby.
Parents and scientists based the rate of pain of their baby using their facial reaction, their tears and other body movements. For the ones that had the lidocaine, those babies starting 2 months old up to 1 year old, experienced less pain according to the pain chart. Babies who got sugar method along with the tutorial videos didn't have any difference with the ones who got the placebo no matter what age they were.
University of Toronto's professor of pharmacy, Anna Taddio, also the lead scientist of this study, said that lidocaine is safe to apply topically since it doesn't pose any serious side effect, as long as it is used properly. Taddio is encouraging parents to use it for their kids, as it is the only method that could actually work for easing the pain during vaccination.
Fox News also published this report saying the right pain reliever for babies during vaccination could help them not develop fear and negative thinking with injections. Because when that happens, it will be hard for doctors to give them shots when it is warranted.
