Reduced long-term respiratory morbidity after treatment of respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis with ribavirin in previously healthy infants: a preliminary report.

Previously healthy infants less than 6 months of age with severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis who required hospitalization were identified from hospital records. Infants had been treated either conservatively (control group, n = 19) or with ribavirin added to conservative management (study group, n = 22). All infants underwent a 1-year follow-up after the initial illness. There was a significant reduction in the prevalence of reactive airway disease in the group treated with ribavirin (P < 0.05) compared with the control group, both in terms of the proportion of patients developing airway reactivity (59% vs. 89%) and the number of episodes of reactive airway disease (31 vs. 70). Our data suggest that ribavirin reduces the prevalence of airway reactivity.