5 Month Old Prescribed With Prednisone For Wheezing And Cough. Safe For The Baby? History Of Bronchitis
Thank you XXXXXXX
One of the most common air way problems in the infancy is RSV bronchiolitis. This is generally very well tolerated by infants but needs monitoring by the parent / doctor.
There is no hard evidence but hypothetical belief amongst Pediatricians is that RSV bronchiolitis may lead to reactive air way disease and frequent wheezing. This is no big secret. You may talk to the Pediatrician about this.
Infants (post RSV) with Reactive Airway Disease get frequent wheezing, cough, difficulty breathing. Usually they grow out of this problem as they grow older (< or = 5yrs of age).
Reactive Airway Disease is frequently get aggravated by viral and bacterial infections. Even though most of the infections are viral, there is high chance of secondary infection by bacteria, as because the viral infections decrease immunity. They affect the bronchioles and predispose children for bacterial infections. That is why your doctor prescribed antibiotics to prevent bacterial infections. Frequent use of antibiotics leads to resistance to that antibiotic but rotating different antibiotics will still benefit when the child has infection.
Even though steroids on daily basis for long term will cause complications, they do not cause harm for short term use. And reactive Airway Disease (Wheezing) best responds with steroids. Some doctors let the infants be 'Happy wheezers' (without drop in Oxygen saturation) and not prescribe steroids, but your baby's doctor is not one amongst them. I believe he is going in the right direction.
Please post me if you have follow up questions.
Regards,
Dr. Jagdish
Thank you XXXXXXX
the current episode of wheezing could be from viral or bacterial infection or exposure to cold. Reactive Air way disease is basically allergic response. So if your observation is very confident, avoid cow milk and go for soy based formulas.