Children and Asthma: Different from Adult Asthma?

* Asthma is present in about 10% of children.

* Asthma in children is diagnosed when your child has recurring episodes of wheezing that are relieved by rescue medicine such as albuterol

* Asthma in children is treated with the same medicines and treatment plans as in adults with adjustments for their size and metabolism.

Children have a lot more wheezing than adults.

A simple upper respiratory infection or common cold causes many children to wheeze.

But, a single episode of wheezing while ill doesn’t mean a child has asthma.  A key feature of asthma is the recurrence of wheezing, along with its reversibility by a bronchodilator/inhaler like albuterol.

How many children who wheeze when sick go on to have recurrent wheezing and asthma?  We don’t know for sure.  But we do know that infection with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) early in childhood is associated with the appearance of asthma.

The bottom line: asthma in children is a very big problem.

In 2016, about 6 million children were diagnosed with asthma.  That makes it  the most common chronic disease of childhood.

Untreated, asthma in children threatens them with death, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and school absenteeism.

Childhood asthma is treated with the same medications and strategies as in adults. Since they are kids there are adjustments in medication dosage, and some differences in severity classification.

Unfortunately, like adults, children are often not treated according to the National standard of care.

Asthmaniac is designed to serve them as well.

At Asthmaniac, pediatric expertise is always on-deck to make sure our approach to children with asthma is aligned with National standards.

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