Steroids confer no benefit in children with RSV bronchiolitis

Abstract

A multicentre trial has shown that dexamethasone (a glucocorticoid form of steroid medication) does not prevent hospitalisation or improve respiratory symptoms in children with a first episode of moderate-to-severe bronchiolitis, a lower respiratory tract infection often caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children and the findings by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) resolve controversy from previous research and are expected to help guide treatment for the most common cause of infant hospitalisation.