Review: daily maintenance inhaled corticosteroidsare not effective for children with episodic viral wheeze
QUESTION: Are inhaled corticosteroids, given episodically or daily, effective for treatment of children with viral episodic wheeze?
Data sources
Published and unpublished randomised controlled trials were identified in April 1999 by searching the Cochrane Airways Group database (which includes studies identified from searches of Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, CINAHL, and hand searches of 16 core respiratory journals and the proceedings of 3 respiratory societies) using combinations of the terms asthma, wheez* (truncated), budesonide, pulmicort, beclomethasone, becotide, fluticasone, flixotide, triamcinolone, steroid, corticosteroid, glucocorticoid, inhaled, aerosolised, nebulised, child, infan*, pediatric, paediatric, and adolescen*; bibliographies of retrieved trials; and contacting authors.
Study selection
Studies were included if they involved children aged 0–17 years with viral episodic wheeze (defined as ≥2 episodes of wheezing associated with clinical viral infection with minimal or no symptoms between exacerbations). Studies of children with …
