REDUCED LONG-TERM RESPIRATORY MORBIDITY AFTER TREATMENT OF RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS BRONCHIOLITIS WITH RIBAVIRIN IN PREVIOUSLY HEALTHY INFANTS - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Previously healthy infants less than 6 months of age with severe respi ratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis who required hospitalization were identified from hospital records. Infants had been treated either con servatively (control group, n = 19) or with ribavirin added to conserv ative management (study group, n = 22). All infants underwent a I-year follow-up after the initial illness. There was a significant reductio n in the prevalence of reactive airway disease in the group treated wi th ribavirin (P < 0.05) compared with the control group, both in terms of the proportion of patients developing airway reactivity (59% vs. 8 9%) and the number of episodes of reactive airway disease (31 vs. 70). Our data suggest that ribavirin reduces the prevalence of airway reac tivity. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss. Inc.