Review: pediatric asthma burden & management

The diagnosis and management of asthma in young children is difficult, since there are many different wheezy phenotypes with varying underlying aetiologies and outcomes. Helpful asthma management approaches are presented to assist the clinician during the treatment. Different guidelines are provided that have useful information for clinicians assessing asthmatic children with recurrent wheezy illnesses. However, there are differences in classification of the disease and treatment protocols. This review discusses the burden of the asthma disease, approaches of asthma management for children, asthma education, asthma self-management and asthma action plans (AAPS),Nursing care in childhood asthma management, the relationship of the literature to the Saudi context. Consistent review of the need for on-going treatment with a particular pharmacological modality is essential, since many children with recurrent wheezing in infancy go into spontaneous remission. It is probable that newer biomarkers of airway inflammation will assist the clinician as to when to initiate and when to continue pharmacological treatment in the future.