Grape seed extract for kids and used as a vaccine for noro....

[mela]

I'm wondering if anyone knows if you can give kids grape seed extract? This article makes it sound like you can.
http://mickirose.wordpress.com/2012/...virus-vaccine/

But I've read other articles saying not enough research has been done to safely give it to children. I called my pediatrician and they said they can't advise me since it isn't FDA approved.
Just wondering if any of you have given it to your kids? ​

[chris_alice]

Best thing to do is ask a pharmacist. They know way more about meds, vitamins, supplements etc than doctors do.

[AoD]

Oh my God, this "article" is so wrong I don't even know where to begin.. >_< There is no such thing as "norovirus cell lines", because first of all norovirus is a virus, not a cell, and second it cannot be propagated in a lab. What they do is that they use surrogate viruses (notably feline calicivirus) to model it. These viruses are grown in cell lines (which they use as replicating factories, which kills the cells) or living organisns (mice) but the viruses are NOT the cell lines. Rotavirus and noroviruses are two different groups of viruses, they're not different forms of the same virus! They're not even in the same virus family. There is no vaccine against norovirus at the moment, but there is one against rotavirus. And there is no evidence that grapeseed extract works on rotavirus, and the evidence on norovirus was effective when the virus was exposed to it outside the body. There is no indication that the active compound in grapeseed extract remains active and functional when exposed to stomach acid, so at this point it is impossible to know whether taking supplements will have any effect. All we know is that putting grape seed extract ON the virus at normal conditions (room temp, diluted in pH neutral water) works to deactivate it.

That being said, yes, ask a pharmacist they usually will have a good idea whether or not it might pose a danger... although keep in mind that natural health products do not go through a stringent validation process like medications, and contamination with toxic material (heavy metals mostly) is common in those supplements. There isn't any real quality control going on.