| ■ Steroids Won't Help Common Respiratory Infection in Infants | 2007.07.28 |
| WEDNESDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- A commonly prescribed steroid called dexamethasone is no more effective in infants with the lower respiratory tract infection bronchiolitis than a placebo, new research suggests. The study found no statistically significant differences in the rates of hospitalization and in measures of respiratory health between a group of infants given dexamethasone, which can incur side effects, and a group given a placebo. "For young infants with bronchiolitis with first-time wheezing, we'd hope that the results of this study would lead physicians not to use corticosteroids," said the study's lead author, Dr. Nathan Kuppermann, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the University of California, Davis. "Why incur the risk of side effects if the medication isn't effective?" Results of the study are published in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. |