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Study questions effectiveness of humid air for croup

Respiratory Care Weekly, July 19, 2006

Humid air-the customary treatment for infants' barking croup cough-might not be so effective, according to a retrospective study in the second 2006 issue of The Cochrane Library. The retrospective piece brought together data from three studies involving a total of 135 children with croup who were treated in the emergency room rather than with home treatments, which frequently takes place in a hot bath or with water in a boiling stovetop teakettle.

"We haven't shown any benefit from using the moisturized air in the emergency department, and there's no particular reason to think that it would work better at home," says lead author Michael Moore, a family doctor at Three Swans Surgery in Salisbury, England. He added it's possible that some benefit exists that the study's measurement indicators do not pick up, so the experts recommend more research to examine the treatment further.

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