Efficacy
In patients of all groups, individual symptoms had
improved at the end of treatment with all these
improvements being significant in the EP+ group
whereas those of sputum volume and frequency of
sneezing were not significant in the EP group and
the change in fever score neither in the EP nor in
the placebo group (data not shown).
Based on the symptom score sum, the decrease
in exacerbation severity significantly differed
among the three groups under treatment, particularly
between the EP and the EP+ group
(Fig. 2). These differences in overall severity were
mainly caused by a significantly alleviating effect
of EP+ on cough, wheezing and sputum purulence
(EP+ < PBO scores; data not shown) and
the lack of any such effect of EP alone on sputum
volume and sneezing (EP > PBO scores; data not