Almost half of all children in America suffer from at least one episode of cold and other routine illnesses before they get six years old. Also, one-third of preschoolers have had a wheezing cold in the last six months. Now, a new research has unveiled that children suffering respiratory tract infections can benefit from azithromycin.

The research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has unveiled that the team decided to use a strong dose of azithromycin on children prone to regular wheeze when they found that the drug can prevent cold from getting worse.

“These kids are basically fine until they get a cold, and then every time they get a cold it goes into their chest and causes wheezing”, affirmed Dr. Robyn Cohen, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine.

In the research, 607 children were recruited who were aged between 12 months and 71 months having histories of recurrent, severe lower respiratory tract illness. They were divided into two sub-groups- a group having 307 children received 12 mg of azithromycin for five days and 300 were given a placebo.

During the trial, the children faced 937 respiratory illnesses out of which, 92 were quite severe. Of them, 35 received azithromycin and other 57 received placebo. Those who received the former at the start of the cold were having 36% less risk of progression of the disease.