Effectiveness of Betamethasone in Management of Severe Infections

Abstract

STEROIDS might be of benefit to the patient with a serious infection.¹ In 1961 a Cooperative double-blind study of the effects of administering a dose of 300 mg of hydrocortisone to patients with severe bacterial infections, followed by decrements for another three days, did not indicate any noteworthy alteration in the mortality.² More recently, experimental studies indicated that only pharmacologic doses of corticoids might be expected to be helpful in bacterial infections.³ Therefore, the following studies were undertaken to define further the place, if any, of large doses of corticoids as an adjunct to antibiotics in the therapy of severe . . .