Role Of Interferon In Acute Bronchiolitis In Children Aged Less Than 24 Months

BackgroundBronchiolitis is a common lung infection in infants and young children by viral lower respiratory tract infection(LRTI).In general it is the most common lower respiratory infection in children younger than 2 years of age.Inflammation of the bronchiolar epithelium and mostly mononuclear cells edema of the airways and necrotic epithelium,it is characterized by cough,tachypnoea,apnea,increased use of respiratory muscles,fever,nasal congestion and rhinorrhoea.Routine diagnostic tests and imaging are not recommended by most guidelines,but still some of the common tests(blood and radiographic)are in use.Management of bronchiolitis is mainly symptomatic relief and oxygen supplementation for children who are unable to get enough oxygen from room air,bronchodilator,nebulizer hypertonic(3%)saline,antibiotics while is suspected bacterial infection,physiotherapy and interferon for prophylactic purpose.Objective of the studyThe aim of this study is to investigate the role of interferon in treatment of acute bronchiolitis in children especially its effect on length of hospital stay,Dyspnea period,duration of fever and cough timeMethods:Clinical records of children diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis treated in our hospital between December 2016 and December 2017 was reviewed retrospectively and collected for analysis.Patients were divided into two groups(Treatment group and control group).Baseline characteristics of the two groups were retrieved from the records and effect of the two regimens between the groups was determined.An ethical approval has been obtained from the Ethics Committee of the first hospital of Jilin University before commencement of the study.Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 18.RESULTSEighty three children were evaluated in the final analysis(41 in the control group and 42 in the treatment group).The two groups were similar regarding their age and sex.The two groups were not significantly different in terms of length of hospital stay(P = 0.084);Dyspnea period(P = 0.599),wheezing time(P = 0.69),cough time(P = 0.947)and duration of fever(P = 0.411).ConclusionIn this study,we have evaluated the role of interferon in treatment of acute bronchiolitis and our results indicate that is does not reduce the length of hospital stay,wheezing time,cough time,Dyspnea time and duration of fever.