With regard to the croup protocol, I am looking for clarification on the indication of “history of URTI.” Does this need to be diagnosed in hospital, or can recent symptoms of an URTI be enough? If the symptoms are enough, how long should the patient present with them for it to qualify as an URTI? 

History of URTI is based solely on current patient symptoms. They must have current URTI symptoms to qualify. There is no set duration of symptoms required. However, what we are looking for are clinical indications of an acute upper respiratory tract infection. The reason for this inclusion is that Croup is caused by viruses that cause URTIs and additionally cause swelling to the upper airway in young pediatric patients. To help select the right patients who have a virus causing croup wherein dexamethasone will be helpful, we want to select those patients that have active URTI symptoms. These could include nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, hoarse voice, occurring concurrently with other symptoms of viral infection.  

Airway/Breathing,Croup

Croup, Dexamethasone, Epinephrine, Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, URTI

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