Furious parents have slammed a Beijing preschool after children were made to take free anti-flu medicine as part of a pharmaceuticals company promotion.

A mother raised the alarm on an online forum when her child suffered a dangerous allergic reaction to drugs given out at Xintiandi Kindergarten in Tongzhou district.

Writing on bato.cn, a popular site among residents in the district, "Mishishahai" said the school required every student to take Youkadan, a medicine made by Renhe Group in Jiangxi province. Shortly after, her child's eyes became seriously inflamed.

Several parents with children at the school left angry comments accusing the school of being irresponsible and acting without their permission. They also claimed Renhe's freebies are used to promote the company.

Zhao, the principal at Xintiandi who declined to give her full name, told METRO all 180 students drank two bags of soluble cold medicine after naptime on March 23 and 24. Each was also given two more bags to take home on Friday.

"It's still very cold outside, so we gave the medicine to children to prevent flu," she said, explaining that the packaging for the drugs states it helps prevent the virus. "We posted a notice at the entrance saying children would take the medicine. Maybe some parents didn't pay attention."

She said the medicine was a gift from a foundation co-managed by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund and Renhe. According to a notification posted on its official website, the foundation has handed out free drugs and pamphlets to preschools nationwide since February 2010 in an effort to prevent the spread of H1N1 flu.

A foundation worker who gave her name as Liu said the medicine is intended for preschool infirmaries and expressed surprise that it had been given to all every child at Xintiandi, even healthy ones. "In the future, we'll notify schools that only sick children who are not allergic can take the medicine," she added.

Liu said 11 kindergartens in Tongzhou were given free batches of Youkadan, which was registered by Renhe in 1993.

The kindergarten has apologized to the parents of the child who suffered an allergic reaction, said Zhao. She declined to give any more details, other than to say the child had recovered and the parents are not demanding any compensation.

Huang Liuming, a pediatrician at Bayi Children's Hospital, said parents and schools should be cautious when giving small children medicine as they may have allergic reactions to various components.

"If it's just mild flu, drinking more water and eating more vegetables and fruits are better than taking medicine," he added.