By Anne Harding
January 11, 2016
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Azithromycin significantly shortens the duration of asthma-like episodes in young children, according to a new randomized controlled trial.
“We’ve shown in the new study that taking out the bacteria has a very dramatic effect,” Dr. Hans Bisgaard of the Copenhagen Prospective Studies of Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
“Preschool viral wheeze” is a leading cause of hospital admission among young children, and current treatments are largely ineffective. As the name suggests, these episodes are generally considered to be viral. But in the COPSAC cohort, Dr. Bisgaard and colleagues had previously identified an association between airway bacteria and wheezing episodes.
