Oral prednisolone in preschool children with virus-associated wheeze

Australian researchers conducted a study at a pediatric emergency department (ED) in Perth, where they randomized patients with virus-associated wheeze to 3 days of treatment with either oral prednisolone or placebo. The intent-to-treat analysis included 305 patients aged 2–6 years who received prednisolone and 300 who received placebo. The primary endpoint was total hospital stay until cleared for discharge, which was a median 540 minutes among the placebo-takers vs. 370 minutes for prednisolone recipients. The investigators concluded that oral prednisolone was well-tolerated in children presenting to a pediatric ED with virus-associated wheeze and significantly shortened their hospital stay compared with placebo.