Alternate-Day Prednisone Therapy

Abstract

Patients with a variety of febrile, inflammatory disorders were given an average dose of 62 mg of prednisone every other day for periods lasting from one to 16 months. In seven patients, a switch from daily to alternate-day therapy was followed by increased delayed hypersensitivity responses to appropriate antigens. In five patients started directly on an alternate-day schedule, pre-existing skin reactivity was not suppressed. In addition, six of seven patients could be sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene while on alternate-day steroids. Patients on the alternate-day schedule had remarkably mild side effects.