According to a 2020 study, echinacea may be safe for some children ages 4–12 years up to a maximum of 2,000 mg per day.

Lopresti AL, Smith SJ. An investigation into the anxiety-relieving and mood-enhancing effects of Echinacea angustifolia (EP107™): A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Affect Disord. 2021;293:229-237. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.054 The researchers found that children taking echinacea experienced fewer viral and bacterial infections than those taking vitamin C. This led to a 76.3% reduction in antibiotic prescriptions. The safety of Echinacea was very good with very low numbers of adverse events thought possibly related to study medication, and no differences between EFJ and VC control in this respect was found. The overall number of adverse events was significantly ( p=0.016) lower with EFJ than with vitamin C, consistent with the reduction of RTIs, complications of RTIs and antibiotic usage. An increased risk for rashes (7.1 vs 2.7%) was reported [ 15] for an Echinacea pressed-juice preparation, however this was not observed for the hydroethanolic extract used in the current study with 1.9 and 2.0% for EFJ and VC, respectively. Are allergic to chrysanthemums, daisies, marigolds or ragweed because echinacea can cause a rashIn one mouse study, echinacea compounds helped reduce important inflammatory markers and memory loss caused by inflammation ( 18). By day 10 of EFJ-treatment, most children in this study had fully recovered from cold symptoms ( Figure 3). Again, the rate of non-responders was no more than 8.7% in the high-dose group and 23.5% in the low-dose group (AT collective). In comparison, Thompson et al. reported that approximately 50% of children with untreated cold episodes were still symptomatic by day 10 and reached the 10% non-responder level only after day 15 [ 8], which is in accordance with observations by Grüber et al. [ 25]. Parents/children subjectively rated the effectiveness of EFJ predominantly positive (“good” or “very good”) after each episode. Echinacea may decrease the number of secondary bacterial complications resulting from viral respiratory infections.

Although it doesn’t have any proven health benefits, many people still take echinacea. It ranks in the top 10 herbal supplements in the U.S.Overall, 98.0% of parents and investigators judged the tolerability of EFJ as “ (very-) good”, similar to the control group with 95.9% and 96.8%, respectively. No significant difference between EFJ and control was identified ( p>0.5). Nimodipine: CYP3A4 inducers (weak) may decrease the serum concentration of nimodipine. Monitor therapy.( Nimodipine April 2015, Tartara 1991) This study was designed as a randomized, parallel grouped, open-label multicenter clinical trial according to ICH-GCP guidelines and reported adhering to the CONSORT guidelines. Haller J, Krecsak L, Zámbori J. Double-blind placebo controlled trial of the anxiolytic effects of a standardized Echinacea extract. Phytother Res. 2020;34(3):660-668. doi:10.1002/ptr.6558 Echinacea is believed to work best when taken at the first sign of a cold. Although echinacea may not prevent a cold, this product might make cold symptoms less severe.

In one study, a supplement containing a botanical extract derived from eggplant and echinacea was effective at improving mild to moderate acne compared to a placebo. However, it’s unclear how much of this could be attributed to echinacea specifically ( 21).

Prevention & Wellness

Prior to 1950 and the introduction of antibiotics, echinacea held an esteemed medicinal status. As the health care industry shifted, antibiotics became the rage, and the famed herb lost much of its esteem. However, another meta-analysis which looked at 24 randomized controlled trials, consisting of 4,631 participants, found that echinacea products have weak-to-no benefit for treating common colds.

Echinacea angustifolia is the recommended species to help with specific ailments related to ADD/ADHD. However, other scientists warn that this limited investigation did not look into the effect of the product on the virus that causes coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). Call your doctor if the condition you are treating with echinacea does not improve, or if it gets worse while using this product. Catanzaro M, Corsini E, Rosini M, et al. Immunomodulators inspired by nature: a review on curcumin and echinacea. Molecules. 2018;23(11):2778. doi:10.3390/molecules23112778

Dosage

Remember that Echinacea has not been studied in children, so side-effects specific to the pediatric population are unknown. A recent study does suggest that Echinacea and some other commonly used herbs may be harmful to cells of the reproductive system, but this effect is only seen after very high doses of the herb are present. Furthermore, it seems as if sperm cells are the target of these harmful effects, so pre-pubertal boys would not be at risk because they have not yet begun to produce sperm. Abdel-Naby Awad OG. Echinacea can help with azithromycin in prevention of recurrent tonsillitis in children. Am J Otolaryngol. 2020;41(4):102344. doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2019.102344 Long-term use or use for longer than 10 days for acute infections in otherwise healthy individuals is not recommended. Bradley 1992 Pregnancy / Lactation