Is inhaled corticosteroid useful as adjunctive management in tuberculous pyrexia?

Systemic corticosteroid is currently the standard adjunctive therapy for tu berculous pyrexia. A preliminary prospective open study to examine the effi cacy of inhaled budesonide at a dose of 2,400 mu g daily in the management of this condition was performed. Out of nine non-HIV infected patients with tuberculous pyrexia studied four patients succeeded to achieve defervescen ce at a mean of 3.25 days (range = 2 to 5 days), while the rest of the pati ents failed to do so within 7 days. None of the patients had unwanted side effects of systemic corticosteroid and patients' acceptance of such therapy was high. The potential usefulness of inhaled corticosteroid in some patie nts with tuberculous pyrexia might warrant further evaluation.