Washington, July 26 (ANI): A new study has found that steroid treatment for infants suffering from bronchiolitis, is no better than a placebo.

The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Howard M. Corneli at the University of Utah.

As part of the study, researchers compared hospitalisation rates for 600 children between the ages of 2 months and 12 months who visited emergency rooms with moderate-to-severe bronchiolitis.

Researchers treated one group of infants with a dose of dexamethasone (a glucocorticoid form of steroid medication) and the other with a placebo and evaluated after one hour, and again at four hours.

The study found that the hospitalisation rate for both groups was similar at nearly 40 percent. Both groups improved during treatment, but the group treated with active medication was no better than the placebo group.

"We learned that a commonly used treatment doesn't work," Corneli said.

Bronchiolitis infections begin most frequently with a fever, runny nose, coughing, and wheezing. Most children recover from the illness in eight to 15 days. The majority of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis infections are under 6 months old. Although many children with bronchiolitis have mild infections, and most don't need hospitalization, children born prematurely or who suffer from heart and lung disease are most at risk for complications.

The findings of the study were published in the July issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. (ANI)