Advances in the management of childhood asthma

Abstract 

For children with daily asthma symptoms, the most effective preventative therapy is inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Most children experience good symptom control on relatively low doses (<400 μg/day). If frequent symptoms persist despite treatment with ICS 400 μg/day, beneficial add-on therapies include long-acting beta-2 agonists, leukotriene receptor antagonists and slow-release theophyllines. These should be tried sequentially before the dose of ICS is increased.

Non-atopic children with episodic viral-triggered wheezing are extremely unlikely to respond to regular ICS. They might best be treated with ‘when-required’ high-dose beta-2 agonists with or without oral steroids.

Children with frequently recurrent or chronic non-specific coughing are unlikely to have asthma. However, a clear response of symptoms to a trial of inhaled steroids and relapse when stopping therapy remains useful in identifying those with true cough-variant asthma.

It remains to be seen how effective anti-IgE antibody therapy will be.

Keywords:  management, childhood, asthma