Vicks VapoRub, a common cold remedy, can cause respiratory distress in children under 2 when inappropriately applied directly under the nose, US researchers said on Tuesday.

They said using the Procter & Gamble Co product in this way can cause a young child’s tiny airways to swell and fill with mucus, triggering severe breathing problems.

"The only problem we’ve seen is in a small child when it has been put under the nose," Dr. Bruce Rubin of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, said in a telephone interview.

Rubin said the ingredients in Vicks can be irritants, causing the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway. And since infants and young children have airways that are much narrower than those of an adult, any increase in mucus or swelling can narrow them severely.

"The company is really clear it should never go under the nose or in the nose for anybody and it shouldn’t be used in children under 2," said Rubin, whose study appears in the journal Chest.

While the researchers only tested the Vicks product, Rubin said similar products, including generic versions, could cause the same negative effects in infants and toddlers.

Rubin and his colleagues began looking at use of the medication after treating an 18-month-old girl who developed respiratory distress after the salve was put under her nose.

They studied ferrets, which have an airway anatomy similar to humans. In the animals with a chest infection, the product increased mucus secretion and decreased the animal’s ability to clear mucus.

"We were able to document changes that we think explain this," Rubin said.

David Bernens, a spokesman for P&G, said the finding came as a surprise. "Vicks VapoRub has been proven safe and effective through multiple clinical trials. It has been in the market for over 100 years," Bernens said, noting that the label says the product should not be used in children under age 2 without a doctor’s advice, and not under the nose.

"We warn people not to do that," he said.

Since the initial episode, emergency doctors at the medical center have begun asking all parents of children in respiratory distress if they used the Vicks product in a similar way and they have seen two more cases, Rubin said.

"I recommend never putting Vicks in, or under, the nose of anybody — adult or child," Rubin said in a statement, adding that he would never use it in a child under age 2.

Dr. James Mathers, president of the American College of Chest Physicians, said in a statement that parents should consult their doctor before giving any over-the-counter medication to infants and young children, particularly cough and cold medications, which can be harmful.

credits: abs-cbnnews

Microsoft was getting mostly negative reviews online for the first installment of its $300 million advertising campaign featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld, meant to rebuff Apple’s commericials that depict the PC software giant as uncool.

The first ad in the campaign premiered Thursday night during the broadcast of the National Football League’s season kickoff game

In the commercial — which can be found at Microsoft.com and on video sharing sites — Seinfeld is walking through a mall when he spots Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a "Shoe Circus" store.

The comedian — star of the 1990-1998 sitcom "Seinfeld" — then helps Gates pick out a new pair of shoes while the jokes come quick: showering with clothes on, Gates being a "10," platinum credit cards for a fictional shoe store.

It’s a zany ad that packs a lot of quirkiness into 90 seconds. With no direct mention of Microsoft or its operating system, Vista, the commercial concludes with the slogan: "The future, delicious."

The ad was created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky — a firm with a reputation for oddness. Many technology and advertising blogs have turned to Seinfeld’s trademark comedy description — "nothing" — to describe the ad.

"Huh?" wrote Abbey Klaassen for Ad Age. "You could be forgiven for not knowing what the heck Microsoft’s new TV ad … was about."

Dan Frommer, writing for the Silicon Alley Insider, pronounced the ad "not funny" and added that the mall shoe store setting "is not going to help Microsoft look any cooler."

For the blog Techcrunch.com, Michael Arrington noted that the "tech and geek crowd is a little underwhelmed" by the ad, which he said is "a far cry from the brilliant Microsoft v. Mac ads."

Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows consumer product marketing, said in a video posted on the Windows press Web site, that the ad is a "teaser" meant to "engage customers in a conversation … to get the conversation going again about what Windows means in people’s everyday lives."

Even if the reaction was mostly negative, Microsoft’s ad has clearly succeeded in getting people talking

An unexpectedly steep 84,000 US jobs were lost in August and the national unemployment rate hit a five-year high of 6.1 percent, fanning worry ahead of November’s presidential vote about rising recession risks.