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For Immediate Release
Don’t Let Fall Asthma Attacks Spoil Your Child’s Fun
Vancouver, BC - August 19, 2010 - We only have a few weeks before the kids go back to school. For parents with a child who has asthma, the beginning of a new school year can be especially challenging.
In Canada, between 20 and 25 per cent of children’s hospital admissions for asthma happen in September.
Doctors think the cold virus is the main cause for asthma flare-ups in September. When children go back to school, they’re in close quarters with many other kids – and the viruses they carry. Viruses, including the common cold, are the number one cause of asthma flare-ups in kids.
For kids with asthma, especially uncontrolled asthma, a simple cold can lead to dangerous symptoms and unscheduled visits to the doctor or emergency room.
School children bring cold germs home from school and spread them to their parents and siblings. Doctors think this spread of cold germs explains why there’s a small rise in preschoolers’ and adults’ asthma flare-up in late September, soon after the spike in school kids’ flare-ups.
"Washing your hands properly and frequently is the best line of defence for everyone against any kind of cold or flu," says Kelly Ablog-Morrant, Health Education Director for the BC Lung Association.
Other possible causes for September flare-ups:
- not taking preventer medicine as prescribed
- the stress of returning to school
- allergic triggers at school, like cat dander on kids’ clothes, mould and dust
- more pollution as school buses and commuters return in full force
If your child has asthma but has not been taking his or her medication during the summer, now is the time to start. It’s important to have your child’s asthma symptoms under good control. That way, if your child does catch a cold or the flu, your child’s lungs will be better at fighting it off.
How to prepare your child with asthma for back-to-school
- Teach your child and everyone in your family how to fight germs by washing hands properly. Keep viruses in check with proper hand washing – use plenty of soap and running water, or hand sanitizer. Rub hands for at least 20 seconds.
- Know your child's asthma triggers and how to avoid them
- Make sure that your child is taking his or her asthma preventer medicine as prescribed.
- Check the expiry date on medicines and replace if necessary.
- Have a written asthma action plan at www.lung.ca and know how to use it. You can download an asthma action plan and ask a doctor or certified asthma educator to explain how to use it.
- See your doctor or health-care provider if your child’s action plan or medicine need adjusting.
- Work with a certified asthma educator to learn how to better manage asthma. Search this online directory to find an asthma clinic or asthma education program in your area.
- Make sure your child and family members get the regular seasonal flu shot as soon as they are available.
Make sure school and daycare staff know about your child’s asthma
Talk to teachers and daycare staff about your child’s asthma, preferably before classes start.
- Give teachers and caregivers a copy of your child’s asthma action plan and explain how to use it.
- Explain your child’s triggers and usual symptoms.
- Teach them what to do in an emergency.
- Make sure your child’s rescue medicine (blue puffer) is always nearby.
- Ask that they remind children to wash their hands properly.
Learn more (links below)
For more info contact:
Katrina van Bylandt, Communications, BC Lung Association -
T 604.731.5864 E vanbylandt (at)bc.lung.ca
Kelly Ablog-Morrant, Director, Lung Health Programs and Services, BC Lung Association -
T 604.73.5864 E ablog(at)bc.lung.ca