Salbutamol vs. placebo for treatment of pertussis.

The efficacy of salbutamol was assessed in a double blind placebo controlled crossover study in nine hospitalized children with whooping cough in the convulsive stage verified by culture or serology. The children were 1.5 to 27 months old (median, 4 months). The dosage of salbutamol was the one normally used and supplementary treatment was standardized. Salbutamol was found to give no significant effects on the course or severity of whooping cough in the children treated.