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Michael J. Harkness, MD
Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center Meadowbrook, Pa

JAMA. 1989;262(14):1947.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

As a practicing general pediatrician in a community hospital, I have used aerosolized ribavirin frequently for the treatment of lower respiratory distress in infants infected with respiratory syncytial virus.¹ I therefore wish to comment on the letter by Guglielmo et al.¹

During the last few months, several hospitals in our area, including my own, have faced the same dilemma as Guglielmo and colleagues. There seems to be increasing pressure from hospital personnel to delineate further the risk of ribavirin exposure in the workplace, especially to women in their childbearing years. I do not believe the concerns expressed are a result of newly reported cases of teratogenic effects in humans, as I am aware of no case reports of teratogenic, embryolethal, or mutagenic effects in any primate species.

I must assume that the new concerns center around the reports of Harrison et al² in the . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Deputy Editor (West).

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