Prednisolone plus albuterol versus albuterol alone in mild to moderate bronchiolitis

To evaluate combination therapy of mild to moderate bronchiolitis with bron chiodilators and corticosteroids, we treated 51 young children with first-t ime wheezing and symptoms of respiratory tract infection with albuterol plu s either prednisolone or placebo for 5 days. Disease severity was scored on days 0, 2, 3, and 6, On day 2, prednisolone resulted in significantly lowe r scores (2.7 +/- 1.4 vs. 4.0 +/- 1.5 in all patients evaluated, p<0.05) th an placebo, whereas there was no detectable difference on day 6, suggesting that addition of prednisolone to albuterol transiently accelerates recover y from bronchiolitis. The clinical significance of this effect needs to be evaluated in further studies.