MED INSIDER–DR RIA MASLOG
Bronchial Asthma
I attended a short lecture on Bronchial Asthma last January 17, 2024 at the Conrad Hotel in Manila.
This was conducted by experts of the Philippine Academy of Pediatric Pulmonologists (PAPP) and they reiterated the questions that can be used to elicit features suggestive of asthma.
These questions are:
A. Does your child have wheezing?
B. Does your child wake up at night because of coughing, wheezing or difficulty in breathing and/or breathlessness?
C. Does your child have to stop running or play less hard because of coughing, wheezing or difficult breathing or shortness of breath?
D. Does your child cough, wheeze or get difficulty breathing or heavy breathing or shortness of breath while playing with animals or when exposed to strong smells or smokes?
E. Does your child have a history of eczema or allergy to food?
F. Has anyone in your family been diagnosed with eczema, food allergy or other diseases with breathing problems?
There are also tests to help in the diagnosis of asthma in children. These tests are:
* nebulization – this is done if on auscultation, wheezes can be heard. If the wheezes disappear after nebulization, then most likely it is asthma
– chest xray
– and skin tests for allergens
In older age groups, that is 6-18 years , the respiratory symptoms are variable.
It could be breathing difficulty, wheezing and cough. The peak flow and spirometry test results are also variable.
Thus, it is important for asthmatic children to be properly assessed because the number of asthma exacerbation per year is a risk factor for future poor outcome if not well managed.
Besides, it is the aim of the experts that all asthmatic children should live a normal life just like the other healthy children.