Papular urticaria and insect bite reactions

To be applied sparingly to the affected skin two or three times daily after gently cleansing the area. - Courses of treatment in children should generally be limited to not more than seven to ten days.

Adults and children: apply sparingly two or three times daily. SmPC 4.8: "Children are particularly at risk and in these patients, Hydrocortisone Cream should only be used twice daily for a maximum of ten days over a body surface area not exceeding 10% and without an occlusive dressing." For a child, follow that restriction, not the wider adult instruction.

Hydrocortisone 1% cream SmPC section 4.2 (eMC product 13103)

Indication and dose from the same label. SmPC 4.1 lists the product as "indicated for the treatment of eczema and dermatitis of all types, including atopic eczema, photodermatitis, otitis externa, primary irritant and allergic dermatitis, intertrigo, prurigo nodularis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and insect bite reactions." SmPC 4.2: "Adults and children: To be applied sparingly to the affected skin two or three times daily after gently cleansing the area." The disease article independently endorses the class: "Pruritus, a common manifestation, often responds to calamine lotion or intermediate-potency topical corticosteroids".

Papular urticaria and insect bites - disease-level clinical article (papular-urticaria-insect-bites-clinical.txt)

Carries the emergency, the commonest complication, and the prevention advice - all of which apply whichever topical or antihistamine is chosen.

Oral: 10 mg once daily. - A short course, while the itch is severe

Age restriction: minimum 24 months

(The Egyptian formulary heads these indications as applying to adults and to children of 2 years and over, so no dose is given here below 2 years.)

Egyptian National Drug Formulary - Respiratory System 2026 (cetirizine monograph)

The non-sedating alternative for a child who must go to school. The indication claim comes from the disease article, not from the monograph: itching in the moderate-to-severe range may call for a short course of a systemic corticosteroid together with oral H1 and H2 antihistamines. The dose claim comes from the Egyptian formulary's cetirizine monograph, which gives a child aged 2 to 6 years 2.5 mg by mouth, once or twice a day. Stated plainly because it matters: that monograph's listed indications are relief of the nasal and ocular symptoms of allergic rhinitis, seasonal and perennial, and relief of the symptoms of chronic idiopathic urticaria - it does NOT name insect bites, unlike chlorpheniramine. Line 2 for that reason.

4 mg every 4 to 6 hours; maximum daily dose: 24 mg. - A short course, while the itch is severe

Age restriction: minimum 24 months

(Not recommended for children under 2 years - the Egyptian formulary heads the oral indication with exactly that restriction. The bands above are the monograph's Pediatric dosing list. The same monograph also prints a second, higher table (2 to 5 years: 2.5 mg to 5 mg; 6 to 12 years: 5 mg to 10 mg; 12 to 18 years: 10 mg to 20 mg; all at 0.20 mg/kg) which contradicts its own list. The lower, explicitly-labelled Pediatric dosing schedule is what is printed here; the disagreement is stated rather than resolved.)

Egyptian National Drug Formulary - Respiratory System 2026 (chlorpheniramine maleate monograph)

Indication and dose in one document. The Egyptian formulary's chlorpheniramine maleate monograph lists, under its oral indications, controlling the symptoms of acute allergic conditions that answer to antihistamines - urticaria and insect bites among them, alongside hay fever, angioneurotic oedema, allergic and vasomotor rhinitis, food allergy, and reactions to drugs and to serum. The disease article agrees, holding that itching in the moderate-to-severe range may call for a short course of a systemic corticosteroid together with oral H1 and H2 antihistamines. This is the sedating option: useful for the child who cannot sleep for scratching.

The product is suitable for use by adults, children and the elderly. Apply gently with a pad of cotton wool to the affected parts as required. - As required

Suitable for children at the same application: apply gently with cotton wool to the affected parts as required. The SmPC states no age limit and no weight-based dose.

Calamine Lotion BP SmPC sections 4.1-4.2 (eMC product 4822)

Indication claim, disease article: "Pruritus, a common manifestation, often responds to calamine lotion or intermediate-potency topical corticosteroids". Dose claim, Calamine Lotion BP SmPC 4.2: "The product is suitable for use by adults, children and the elderly. Apply gently with a pad of cotton wool to the affected parts as required." (4.1: "For relief of the symptoms of mild sunburn and other minor skin conditions.") The cheap, safe, any-age option, and the one most Cairo families already have.