KIDS-STEP Studie Eine randomisierte kontrollierte Studie zum zusätzlichen Einsatz von Kortison bei hospitalisierten Kindern mit ambulant erworbenen Infektionen der unteren Atemwege

Drug: Celestamine?

Gender: All
Maximum age: 14 Years
Minimum age: 6 Months

Inclusion Criteria:

- Body weight between 5 kg and 45 kg

- Admission to hospital (i.e. assignment of an inpatient case number)

- Clinical diagnosis of CAP (according to predefined criteria)

- Parent and/or child (as age-appropriate) willing to accept all possible randomised
allocations and to be contacted by telephone weekly up to and including at 4 weeks
after randomisation

- Informed consent form for trial participation signed by parent

Exclusion Criteria:

- Presence of local chest complications

- Chronic underlying disease associated with an increased risk of very severe CAP or CAP
of unusual aetiology

- Bilateral wheezing without focal chest signs AND clinical indication for primary
administration of steroids (most likely to represent respiratory tract infection
affecting the medium airways, i.e. not pneumonia)

- Admission to hospital with a primary clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis

- Inability to tolerate oral medication

- Documented allergy or any other known contraindication to any trial medication

- Subacute or chronic conditions requiring higher betamethasone equivalent or known
primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency

- Known diabetes mellitus (type 1)

- Hospitalisation within the last two weeks preceding current admission with the
possibility that pneumonia could be hospital-acquired or healthcare-associated

- Completion of a course of systemic corticosteroids within 2 weeks from enrolment for
courses of >5 days

- Transfer for any reason to a non-participating hospital directly from the paediatric
emergency department

- Parent are unlikely to be able to reliably participate in telephone follow-up because
of significant language barriers

- Participation in another study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding
and during the present study

- Previous enrolment into the current study

- Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, and other dependent persons.