Innovative Steroid Treatment to Reduce Asthma Development in Children After First-time Rhinovirus Induced Wheezing

The overall objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of corticosteroids in preventing recurrent wheezing and asthma in high-risk, first-time severe wheezing children with rhinovirus infection, stratified by rhinovirus genome load. The secondary objectives are to determine duration and severity of each acute episode with acute expiratory breathing difficulty, the number of episodes with acute expiratory breathing difficulty, degree of pulmonary hyperreactivity and quality of life within 24 months after study entry.

Inclusion Criteria: * admitted to pediatric acute wards in the participating hospitals in Norway, Finland, Sweden. * referred for first severe wheezing episode, defined as first-time acute breathing difficulty with wheezing ever, appearing less than 7 days from onset of symptoms * one or more of the following:(a) fever, (b) hypoxia (SAT O2 \