Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - Researchers have come out and stated that steroids are not the answer to treat viral infections in kids.

A new study led by Dr. Jonathan Grigg of Queen Mary University in London focused on roughly 700 children between the ages of 10 months and 5-years old.

The hope was that they could analyze these kids to see if the use of a steroid prednisolone would be effective in helping them fight viral infections which could lead to wheezing, among other things.

They compared the hospital stays for kids who received the steroid, and those who received a placebo.

What they found was that the kids had the same length in terms of hospital stays no matter what treatment they receivd.

Researchers believe that the risks do not make steroids worth it for these children.

The new study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.