Yes, it is done with both children and adults. Usually either anti-emetics (drugs which prevent or reduce nausea and vomiting) and drugs which bring down fever.

We use them all the time in medicine, because giving oral drugs to a vomiting person or even a very dehydrated person is not going to work well. Some people even get SO dehydrated that finding a vein is impossible, so the drugs are used rectally. Of course, as you know, this is done in a hospital or Doctor's office, so the doses are calibrated properly.

The French, for some reason use all kinds of drugs in suppository form. They are very fond of this type of administration and a lot of Americans who go to France (and other European countries, where rectal medicine is used in the home more than in the US) get freaked out if they need medical care.

In our area, you can actually get rectal Acetaminophen, for both children and adults who either can't swallow pills or are dehydrated and need relief from fever and pain immediately. Some migraine drugs are also available in rectal suppository form in the US, as many migraine patients can't keep meds down once the pain starts, or their GI systems don't absorb meds well during a migraine. I have migraines, badly, but I'll stick to pills that I swallow. less