14/04/2026
Ottawa, Ontario — Tuesday April 14, 2026
Short courses of systemic corticosteroids (SCS) are widely used to treat moderate to severe asthma attacks in children. They work quickly and can reduce the need for hospital admission. Recent research has shown that even brief SCS “bursts” can raise the risk of health complications in adults, but whether the same concerns apply to kids is still not fully understood.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to look at the safety of repeated short steroid courses in children over the long term, using data from a large Canadian population. That kind of evidence has been missing, and it really matters when these medications are used so often in asthma care.” – Dr. Dhenuka Radhakrishnan
To find an answer, a new study from Dhenuka Radhakrishnan followed more than 2,000 children treated for asthma in emergency and hospital settings at CHEO. Using real world clinical data collected over several years, the team examined how repeated SCS bursts impacted later health outcomes for kids with asthma.
The research showed most children received one or two SCS bursts, and these were not associated with an increase in serious adverse outcomes. A smaller group required four or more courses over time, showing poorer outcomes. In these cases, complications are likely reflective of more severe or harder to control asthma, rather than direct effects of SCS.
For clinical teams, the findings support SCS as a safe and effective treatment of asthma flare-ups in kids when used appropriately in accordance with guideline-based asthma care. This study further highlights when repeated courses should prompt closer follow-up, helping support more targeted asthma care for kids and families.