Vicks VapoRub is something we know and use to relieve smptoms of cough and congestion. For kids, instead of helping, it could cause more complications.

Dr. Bruce Rubin, the lead author of a study on the ointment, from the department of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston Salem, N.C., and his colleagues became interested in the effects of Vicks VapoRub on young children when they cared for an 18-month-old girl who developed severe respiratory distress after the salve was put directly under her nose.

Procter & Gamble's product label does contain a warning and indicated it is not for children under the age of two. However, many parents either did not read the label or ignore the warning.

The ingredients in Vicks act as an irritant and casued  the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway. The findings was published in the January issue of the journal Chest.