***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Abstract Objective To assess reliability , responsiveness , importance to patients , and convergent validity for the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey ( WURSS-44 ) and to develop a short-form WURSS . Study Design and Setting Community-based recruitment of participants with colds . Prospect i ve monitoring from within 48 hours of first symptom until 2 days after end of cold . The WURSS-44 includes 1 global illness severity item , 32 symptom-based items , 10 functional quality -of-life items , and 1 item assessing global change . The SF-36 , SF-8 , and the Jackson cold scale were used as external comparators . Results Participants included 104 women and 45 men , aged 18 to 80 years , self-reporting on 1,681 person-days of illness . Factor analysis suggested 10 dimensions , with reliability coefficients from 0.62 to 0.93 . Comparing daily WURSS-44 to Jackson and SF-8 yielded Pearson correlation coefficients from 0.73 to 0.93 , and from −0.60 to −0.84 , respectively . Importance to patients and responsiveness assessment yielded a short version , the WURSS-21 . Guyatt 's responsiveness index was 0.54 for the SF-8 , 0.61 for the Jackson , 0.71 for the WURSS-44 , and 0.80 for the WURSS-21 , suggesting that a two-armed trial would require 74 participants for the WURSS-21 , 92 for the WURSS-44 , 124 for the Jackson scale , and 156 for the SF-8 . Conclusions The construct validity of WURSS-44 is supported by measures of reliability , responsiveness , importance to patients , and convergence . A shorter version , the WURSS-21 , may be even more responsive In an attempt to determine the effect of a decongestant with or without an antihistamine on the ventilatory function of the eustachian tube ( ET ) , two separate studies were conducted in 50 children who had had chronic or recurrent otitis media with effusion ( OME ) and in whom tympanostomy tubes had been inserted previously . The first was a double-blind study that compared the effect of an oral decongestant , pseudoephedrine hydrochloride , with that of a placebo in 22 children who developed an upper respiratory infection ( URI ) during an observation period . Certain measures of ET function were significantly elevated above baseline values during the URI , which was attributed to intrinsic mechanical obstruction of the ET . It was found that the oral decongestants tended to alter these parameters of ET function in the direction of the baseline ( preURI ) values . Even though the effect was statistically significant , the favorable changes in measurements of tubal function were only partial and were more prominent on the second day of the trial after the subjects had received four doses of the decongestant . However , the administration of nasal spray of 1 % ephedrine appeared to have no apparent effect on ET function in these children . The second study was a double-blind crossover design . In this study of 28 children who did not have a URI , the effect of a decongestant-antihistamine combination ( pseudoephedrine hydrochloride and chlorpheniramine maleate ) was compared with that of a placebo . When the subjects were given the decongestant-antihistamine medication , there were favorable changes in certain ET function measures which were not observed when they received the placebo . Again , the response differences between the two groups were statistically significant . Even though these two studies indicated that an oral decongestant appeared to affect favorably the ET function of children who had a URI , and that the combination of an oral decongestant and antihistamine had a similar effect on tubal function in children without a URI , an evaluation of the efficacy of these commonly employed medications must await the results of controlled clinical trials in children with OME To determine whether the cough of the common cold arises from upper respiratory stimuli and whether antihistamine-decongestant therapy is an effective treatment for this cough , we prospect ively evaluated volunteers with uncomplicated common colds in a r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled study . After completing a st and ardized question naire and undergoing a physical examination , throat-culturing , and pulmonary function testing , subjects took the active drug or identical-appearing placebo for 7 days while they kept a diary in which they ranked the severity of 17 symptoms for 14 days . Pulmonary function testing was repeated , on average , on Days 4 , 8 , and 14 . Forty-six percent of the variation in cough severity could be explained by throat-clearing and 47 % of the variation in throat-clearing severity by postnasal drip . FIF50 % , the only physiologic parameter that significantly correlated with cough , rose as cough severity fell . Antihistamine-decongestant therapy reduced postnasal drip and significantly decreased the severity of cough , nasal obstruction , nasal discharge , and throat-clearing during the first few days of the common cold . In addition , cough was 20 to 30 % less prevalent in the active drug group within 3 days of starting therapy . We conclude that the cough of the common cold arose from upper respiratory tract stimuli and that cough and other cardinal symptoms of the common cold were reduced with antihistamine-decongestant therapy when these symptoms were at their worst One hundred four preschool-age patients in a private pediatric practice were treated prospect ively during colds with either decongestant-antihistamine or placebo to determine if the decongestant-antihistamine mixture was effective in the prevention of otitis media . Each child received a st and ard dosage of the study medicine according to a double-blind , crossover design . Otitis media was diagnosed on the basis of clinical criteria . Fifteen ( 6.4 % ) of 234 colds treated with placebo and 14 ( 5.8 % ) of 241 colds treated with the study drug were followed by otitis . The decongestant-antihistamine mixture was not useful in preventing development of otitis media in children with colds BACKGROUND Aspirin ( acetylsalicylic acid ) and acetaminophen ( paracetamol ) are frequently used to treat fever and other symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection ( URTI ) . Both are available over the counter for use at the st and ard recommended doses of 500 and 1000 mg per single use . OBJECTIVE This study investigated the efficacy , safety profiles , and tolerability of aspirin 500 and 1000 mg and acetaminophen 500 and 1000 mg compared with placebo in adult patients with acute febrile URTI of suspected viral origin . METHODS This was a multicenter , r and omized , double-blind , double-dummy , placebo-controlled , parallel-group trial conducted in Ukraine and Russia . Patients with URTI and acute fever of > or = 38.5 degrees C received a single dose of aspirin 500 or 1000 mg , acetaminophen 500 or 1000 mg , or matching placebo .  Oral body temperature was measured in the clinic at specified time points up to 6 hours after dosing . The intensity of other symptoms of URTI was rated by patients at baseline and at 2 , 4 , and 6 hours after dosing ( scale from 0 = none to 10 = severe ) . The primary efficacy measure was the AUC for the change in orally measured body temperature from the time of treatment ( baseline ) to 4 hours after dosing . Secondary outcome measures included the change in body temperature from baseline to specified time points between 0.5 and 6 hours after dosing , the difference between baseline and the lowest measured body temperature , the time to the lowest measured body temperature , and the intensity of other symptoms of URTI ( ie , headache , sinus sensitivity to percussion , sore throat , achiness , and feverish discomfort ) . Tolerability was monitored by recording of adverse events . RESULTS Three hundred ninety-two patients were enrolled ( 78 in both aspirin groups , 79 in both  acetaminophen  groups , 78 in the placebo group ) . Demographic and baseline characteristics were comparable in the 5 groups ; 51 % of patients were male , with a mean age of 37.4 years and a mean body weight of 74.3 kg . The AUC values for the change in body temperature 0 to 4 hours after dosing were 3.18 ( 95 % CI , 2.78 - 3.57 ) for aspirin 500 mg , 4.26 ( 95 % CI , 3.84 - 4.68 ) for aspirin 1000 mg , 3.13 ( 95 % CI , 2.77 - 3.49 ) for acetaminophen 500 mg , 4.11 ( 95 % CI , 3.73 - 4.49 ) for acetaminophen 1000 mg , and 0.76 ( 95 % CI , 0.38 - 1.13 ) for placebo . In terms of the primary efficacy variable , all active treatments were significantly superior to placebo ( P < 0.001 , 1-sided t test ) , with no significant differences between them . Reductions in body temperature were significantly greater with the 1000-mg doses of both active treatments compared with the 500-mg doses ( P < 0.001 , 1-sided t test ) . The mean maximum temperature reductions were 1.32 degrees C , 1.25 degrees C , 1.67 degrees C,1.71 degrees C , and 0.63 degrees C in the respective treatment groups . Significant reductions were seen in the mean intensity of headache , achiness , and feverish discomfort with all active treatments at most time points ( P < 0.001 ) , but not in sinus sensitivity to percussion or sore throat . All treatments were equally well tolerated , and no clinical ly significant adverse events occurred . CONCLUSIONS In this single-dose study , aspirin 500 and 1000 mg and acetaminophen 500 and 1000 mg were more effective against fever and other symptoms of URTI than placebo . Both active treatments showed dose-related efficacy , and there was no significant difference between equal doses of the 2 agents . Safety profiles and tolerability were also comparable between treatments Abstract A r and omized , controlled , double-masked clinical trial was conducted with a combination antiviral-antimediator treatment for experimental rhinovirus colds . In all , 150 healthy men and women ( aged 18–51 years ) were r and omly assigned to 1 of 3 groups : intranasal interferon (IFN)–α2b ( 6 × 106 U every 12 h × 3 ) plus oral chlorpheniramine ( 12 mg extended release ) and ibuprofen ( 400 mg ) every 12 h for 4.5 days ( n=59 subjects ) ; intranasal placebo plus oral chlorpheniramine and ibuprofen ( n=61 subjects ) ; or intranasal and oral placebos ( n=30 subjects ) . Treatment was started 24 h after intranasal viral challenge . During the 4.5 days of treatment with IFN-α2b , chlorpheniramine , and ibuprofen , the daily mean total symptom score was reduced by 33%–73 % , compared with placebo . Treatment reduced the severity of rhinorrhea , sneezing , nasal obstruction , sore throat , cough , and headache and reduced nasal mucus production , nasal tissue use , and virus concentrations in nasal secretions . IFN-α2b added to the effectiveness of chlorpheniramine and ibuprofen and was well A total of 466 healthy adults from four different regions of Engl and entered a double-blind , r and omised trial to test the effectiveness of an antihistamine ( triprolidine ) and a decongestant ( pseudoephedrine ) , alone or in combination , in relieving symptoms of the common cold .  During the study 199 subjects reported a total of 243 colds . Subjects recorded the severity of 12 symptoms during treatment and noted separately the severity of a further seven symptoms that represented unwanted effects of treatment or served as an index of suggestibility . They were then asked about their overall improvement in symptoms during treatment and whether they thought they had taken placebo .  Sneezing , nasal obstruction , and overall response to treatment were significantly improved ( p < 0.01 ) with psuedoephedrine or pseudoephedrine and triprolidine compared with placebo We tested the hypothesis that antihistamine-decongestant combinations cause no clinical ly significant relief of the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections in young children by r and omly assigning 96 children to one of three treatment groups : antihistamine-decongestant , placebo , and no treatment . There were no differences among the three study groups in the proportion of children considered " better " overall by the parent 48 hours after the initial assessment ( drug , 67 % ; placebo , 71 % ; no treatment , 57 % ; p = 0.53 ) . There were no differences among groups in individual or composite symptom score changes . Two thirds of parents whose children were eligible for the drug trial believed that their child needed medicine for cold symptoms . In the proportion of parents believing that their child needed medicine , there was no difference between those who consented to participate and those who refused . Parents who wanted medicine at the initial visit reported more improvement at follow-up , regardless of whether the child received drug , placebo , or no treatment . We conclude that there is no clinical ly significant improvement in symptoms of 
    Output:
    
Current evidence suggests that antihistamine-analgesic-decongestant combinations have some general benefit in adults and older children .
There is no evidence of effectiveness in young children