Echinacea
Echinacea is an herb derived from three species of plants that have been used as an anti-infective for centuries (Drugs.com, 2022). Echinacea is one of the most used herbal therapies in the country (Sholto & Cunningham, 2019). Echinacea can be administered as a tincture, dry root tea, juice expressed from E. purpurea, dry powder, or liquid extract (Drugs.com, 2022). If an individual chooses the tincture preparation, the dose would be one to two ml orally three times a day (Drugs.com, 2022). The individual should continue with the same preparation throughout the therapy (Drugs.com, 2022). Echinacea is safe for short-term treatment of symptoms but may not actually be effective (Sholto & Cunningham, 2019). A meta-analysis of 24 random control trials (RCTs) provided doubt on the efficacy of treating upper respiratory infections with echinacea (Sholto & Cunningham, 2019). A Cochrane review of the literature in 2014 provided evidence that echinacea was as effective as the placebo used in the studies (DeGeorge et al., 2019). I would recommend the mother use nasal saline irrigation and NSAIDs to treat the symptoms her child experiences (DeGeorge et al., 2019).
