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Objective: This review aims to analyze the main findings regarding the use of herbal medicine for symptomatic relief or treatment of lower respiratory infections in children, which are a frequent reason for hospitalization in pediatrics worldwide.. Methodology: Bibliographic articles were collected through the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and PubMed databases, considering the descriptors “Phytotherapy”, “Pediatrics”, “Children” and “Pneumonia” and inclusion criteria of Full Text, Last 5 years and Languages English, Portuguese and Spanish. After reading and reviewing the articles by the authors, as well as the reassessment of a third author, 8 articles were selected to compose the present work. Results and Discussion: All articles that analyzed the comparative effects of the combined use of medicinal herbs and antibiotics with the administration of the usual antibiotic therapy alone, showed significant results for the herbal association, more effective in the response rate and time for symptoms to disappear. These herbal medicines were predominantly products containing more than one chinese plant, such as Yinqiao powder, which showed better bacterial clearance rates and incidence of adverse effects than western medicine in their respective study. Furthermore, a meta-analysis evaluating the use of herbal medicines in children with COVID-19 demonstrated significant efficacy of a decoction and granules of Chinese plants in reducing symptoms, with a tendency to reduce the incidence of severe pneumonia. Other studies demonstrate several other Chinese herbal options with the same symptom-reducing property of respiratory diseases. Conclusion: It is well known that there are a variety of herbal products used in lower respiratory infections in children, and that, although effective, the adverse effects are poorly studied. In thiscontext, a lack of incentive for studies within the theme can be verified, also showing in the lack of research with Brazilian plants. |
