Anuradha Mascarenhas Posted: Sep 21, 2008 at 0118 hrs IST Pune, September 20 Paracetamol, a widely prescribed drug for fever and pain, has come under the scanner with a global study showing that its use in the first year of life is associated with the risk of asthma and eczema five to six years down the road. Pune-based researchers, along with scientists in 31 countries, studied 2 lakh children and their findings have been published in The Lancet on Saturday. Pune researchers from the Chest Research Foundation participated in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) study coordinated by Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. Sundeep Salvi, Coordinator of CRF in Pune, told The Sunday Express that among the children studied, nearly 15,000 were from centres in Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur. Researchers found that use of Paracetamol (Crocin) for fever in the first year of life was associated with at least 46 per cent increased risk of asthma in children aged 6-7 years. However, researchers have stressed that the findings do not constitute a reason to stop the use of Paracetamol in childhood. Says Salvi,