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Bronchiolitis Treatment
Last Updated: July 3, 2026
Lifestyle Modifications
Support recovery, manage symptoms at home, and prevent the spread of the virus.
- Keep your child upright as much as possible when awake to help them breathe more easily.
- Encourage frequent small feeds or sips of fluids to prevent dehydration, offering water or diluted fruit juice to older children.
- Ensure a smoke-free environment around your child, as cigarette smoke significantly increases the risk of severe bronchiolitis.
- Practice good hygiene, including frequent hand washing, cleaning surfaces, and avoiding sharing cutlery/cups to prevent virus spread.
- Regularly check on your child, including during the night, for any signs of worsening symptoms.
ConsultParents/CaregiversPediatrician
Medicinal Treatment
Alleviate symptoms like fever and discomfort, and provide supportive care when needed.
- Administer children's paracetamol (for babies >2 months) or ibuprofen (for babies >3 months) to manage discomfort or fever, ensuring not to give both simultaneously.
- No specific antiviral medication is typically prescribed as bronchiolitis is usually a self-limiting viral infection that resolves on its own.
- For severe cases requiring hospitalization, supportive medical care may include oxygen therapy, intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration, and nasal suctioning to clear airways.
- Preventive measures such as the RSV vaccine for pregnant individuals and specific antibody injections for high-risk infants can reduce the severity of RSV-induced bronchiolitis.
ConsultPediatricianGeneral PractitionerPediatric Intensivist (for severe cases)
Surgical Treatment
Not applicable; surgical intervention is not a standard treatment for bronchiolitis.
- Bronchiolitis, being a viral infection affecting the small airways, does not typically require surgical intervention.
- In extremely rare and complicated cases, such as severe airway obstruction due to mucus plugs, a bronchoscopy might be considered for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, but this is highly uncommon.
- The primary focus of treatment for bronchiolitis remains on supportive medical care and symptom management rather than surgical procedures.
ConsultPediatricianPediatric Pulmonologist (for highly complex or rare cases)
Contents
Specialists
Parents/CaregiversPediatricianGeneral PractitionerPediatric Intensivist (for severe cases)Pediatric Pulmonologist (for highly complex or rare cases)
About This Disease
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