A research has been able to find that dexamethasone treatment, a common steroid treatment, for children with bronchiolitis is of no use when it comes to improving their symptoms or in minimizing incidents of hospitalization.

The research appeared in an issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Prashant Mahajan, M.D., M.P.H, M.B.A, DMC Children’s Hospital vice chief of pediatric emergency medicine and associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine was a lead co- investigator in the nationwide study involving 600 kids aged two to twelve months.

From News-Medical.Net:

Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the United States and accounts for more than 100,000 admissions each year. Hospital charges associated with the disease exceed $700 million annually. According to Dr. Mahajan, prescribing dexamethasone is a common practice among emergency room physicians and pediatricians to treat acute bronchiolitis. “Corticosteroids are commonly used to treat bronchiolitis although evidence of their effectiveness is limited.” The findings of this study resolve controversy from prior research and are expected to help guide treatment for the most common cause of infant hospitalization.

Given the results of this study, though there is really no best treatment for children, researchers now can concentrate on finding better treatment and better preventative strategies.

It was noted by the study lead investigators note that glucocorticoid medications may play a critical role in other respiratory complications of the childhood, such as coup and asthma. It was pointed that these medications are not the same as androgenic steroids that are often abused by athletes.