Features of Asthma in Children
Asthma in children has its own characteristics. In the vast majority of cases, childhood asthma is an allergic disease, but an important feature of this disease is that exacerbations trigger infections: so-called virus-induced obstruction or virus-induced asthma.
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In international documents (PRACTALL, GINA), virus-induced asthma is isolated into a separate type (or “phenotype”) of asthma, but such asthma remains an allergic disease. This allergic disease occurs on a background of a virus infection.
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How is bronchial asthma diagnosed in children?
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There are no specific symptoms, analysis, functional tests, so the diagnosis is made on the basis of a combination of clinical signs.
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Why then is asthma diagnosed if this diagnosis is not accurate?
- An effective treatment of bronchial asthma makes it possible to achieve control and even remission.
- The earlier the disease is revealed, the earlier treatment is started, the more effective it will be, and the less the amount of therapy will be required.
- -Spasm of bronchial tubes and respiratory failure are a dangerous state of health, so do not neglect treatment.
That’s why doctors all over the world pay so much attention to the early diagnosis of bronchial asthma.
What predisposes to bronchial asthma?
- family history of allergies / asthma (in 90% of asthmatics, one or both parents have allergic diseases);
- male gender of the child;
- artificial breastfeeding or breastfeeding for less than 3 months;
- smoking during pregnancy and direct contact of the child with tobacco smoke;
- mother’s age is less than 20 years;
- atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis in the child;
- early exposure to adverse environmental factors;
- chronic pertussis or pneumonia.
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What are the signs of asthma in children? - wheezing;
- cough;
- restless sleep, apnea;
- prolonged cough after a previous infection.
Additional symptoms in children under 2 years:
- noisy breathing;
- vomiting associated with a cough;
- difficulty in sucking breasts.
Symptoms in children older than 2 years:
- fatigue;
- decreased physical activity.
Important: the symptoms should be repeated. Single obstruction is not asthma!
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How to distinguish severe ARVI from bronchial asthma?
If a child has the following risk factors, the most likely he is having bronchial asthma and you need to choose therapy:
- allergic parents;
- presence of other allergic diseases, atopic dermatitis;
- age over 2 years.
If the child has the following risk factors, most likely he is NOT having bronchial asthma, but he requires monitoring:
- no allergic parents;
- no other allergic diseases;
- the examination did not reveal an allergy;
- obstruction occurs only on the background of a viral infection;
- the age under 2 years.
We have a dog at home, the blood test for allergens has not revealed a reaction to the dog (earlier there was a reaction to our cat, so we found another home for it). What should we do? The child has an allergy to dust, flowering. Should we find another home for our dog or continue monitoring the situation and have the second analysis? Thank you!
It is necessary to monitor the reaction, do not rush to get rid of the dog. Perhaps your child will not have a reaction to it.
Should these kids to go to the kindergarten? They say it is necessary to do it for immunity.
You should go to the kindergarten but take basic medications that soothe the bronchi and do not allow them to react incorrectly to the allergen.
I have such a question. My son is 3 years of age, and he was diagnosed with bronchial asthma (questionable). But what if we do not have asthma? In the future, my boy can choose a profession which is not suitable for asthmatics. Should I bring him up closing his desire to become a military man, a fireman, and so on… The list of such professions is great. Of course, he is only 3 … But time flies quickly…
The diagnosis is “questionable” (as it often happens at this age), it means that it can be painlessly removed. Most likely, asthma is diagnosed because of the need to prescribe a therapy.
Hello! My son had a long period of remission (summer was spent in Cyprus) after a resuspended ARVI-severe obstruction, which had not been observed before. Now he has a series of acute respiratory infections with obstructions. We took him to his grandmother in the suburbs and he felt better. On arrival, he had the same thing. His grandmother is an allergic person too, she says it’s because of the flowering period. Is it really possible?.
Yes, it is possible.
One more thing…In connection with this, we decided to take our child to the sea from the middle of April. What is the best place to go to the sea with a child? Where is the more favorable climate for asthmatics? Thank you in advance.
In this situation, you’d better prefer any coast since the concentration of pollen on the coast is very low.
Can climatotherapy be prescribed to children-asthmatics? We live in the north, should we change the climate?
It’s prescribed as an auxiliary treatment. This is assessed individually. It happens that a person gets ill in a certain climate and feels better in another, then it is recommended to change the climate.
And I have a question about whether to start therapy with Montelar / Fliksotide / Pulmicort / Berodual at the beginning of SARS (fever, cough, running nose). Or should we wait for obstruction and then just start treatment?
You can use Berodual only in the presence of symptoms of bronchial obstruction, if the obstruction still develops – use Pulmicort.
After taking Berodual, a cardiologist revealed bradycardia, after a physical load. What sports do you recommend? My son is 10, very active.
He had atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, and then – bronchospasm. Symbicort was used during the first month when the diagnosis was made. Then we used Singulair – a very effective drug. The question is as follows: can the lack of oxygen affect the memory? Sometimes it seems difficult for him to remember some things.
I think this is not related. And you’d better undergo an ECG.
When you have coughing attacks, should you first use Pulmicort and then Berodual (if the obstruction develops and persists)? Or vice versa?
Vice versa.
Thanks!