TY - JOUR ID - 2030 TI - Determine Efficacy of a Short Course of Montelukast in Children with Intermittent Asthma and Viral Infection JO - International Journal of Pediatrics JA - IJP LA - en SN - 2345-5047 AU - Ahanchian, Hamid AU - Behmanesh, Fatemeh AU - Kianifar, Hamid Reza AU - Motevalli, Nasrin Sadat AU - Jafari, Seyed Ali AD - 1Department of Pediatric Allergy-immunology, Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad, Iran. AD - 2Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Mashhad University Of Medical Science, Mashhad , Iran. Y1 - 2013 PY - 2013 VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - 25 EP - 29 KW - Intermittent Asthma KW - Montelukast KW - Viral infection DO - 10.22038/ijp.2013.2030 N2 - Introduction Mild intermittent asthma is common in children and viral infections are responsible for the majority of exacerbations. As leukotrienes are potent inflammatory mediators, some studies have shown that Montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, may be effective on reduction of asthma symptom. To determine whether a short course of Montelukast in asthmatic children with common cold would modify the severity of an asthma episode.     Materials and Methods Children, aged 6-12 years with intermittent asthma participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Treatment with Montelukast or placebo was initiated at the onset of viral upper respiratory tract infection and continued for 7 days. Primary outcomes included the clinical manifestation: duration of episodes, daily symptom, nights symptoms and activity limitation. Secondary outcomes included the need for beta agonist usage, oral prednisolone, physician visit, hospital admission and school absence.   Results                                                              A total of 187 children with intermittent asthma were randomized, 93 to Montelukast group and 94 to placebo group. Montelukast significantly decreased the cough by 17.3% (P<0.001), nighttime awakenings by 5.4% (P=0.01), interference with normal activity by 6% (P<0.01), time off from school by 6% (P<0.01), β-agonist usage by 17.2% (P<0.001) and doctor visits by12.2% (P<0.01) compared to placebo. Whereas there was a non significant reduction in wheezing, tachypnea, respiratory distress, asthma exacerbation, oral prednisolone and hospitalization (P=0.8).   Conclusion                                                       A short course of Montelukast, introduced at the first sign of a viral infection, results in a reduction in cough, β-agonist use and nights awakened, time off from school and limitation of activity. More studies are needed to evaluate the optimal dose and duration of treatment. UR - https://ijp.mums.ac.ir/article_2030.html L1 - https://ijp.mums.ac.ir/article_2030_80df74ccccaff06462156e0e29be4942.pdf ER -