Objective: To assess the value of immunoregulants in improving the prognosis of infants with wheezing.
Methods: Forty-three infants with wheezing with given oxygen support, injection or inhalation of glucocorticosteroids or bronchodilatator to relieve the symptoms. Of these infants, 24 received immunoregulant treatment with bronchovaxom at the daily dose of 3.5 mg for 10 days every a month for a treatment course of 3 months. The other 19 infants were managed with budesonide aerosol at 200 microg once or twice daily for 3 months (basic treatment group). All the infants were followed up for 1 year to record the number of wheezing episode and infections. Ten healthy infants were also included in this study as the control group.
Results: In infants with bronchovaxom treatment, 25% reported more than 3 wheezing episodes within the 1-year follow-up, a rate significantly lower than that in the control group (63.2%, Chi(2)=6.344, P<0.05). The episodes of respiratory infection were similar between bronchovaxom group and the healthy control group (t=0.72, P>0.05), but significantly higher in the basic treatment group than in bronchovaxom and the healthy control group (t=3.11 and 3.92, respectively. P<0.05).
Conclusions: Bronchovaxom can effectively reduce the recurrence of wheezing and respiratory infections in the infants with wheezing attack to reduce the risks of asthma development.