Dr. Lucy Perham

Indeed, it's about 1 in 10 in the paediatric age group, which means that in every school class in Ireland there's going to be at least a couple of kids who have asthma.

Absolutely.

There's a spectrum of severity that we see.

But the biggest problems for children can impact their attendance at school, their ability to fully participate in sports and activities and to be able to sleep well at night.

And of course, along the spectrum, kids can end up hospitalised and really very unwell with asthma.

So it is a serious problem that needs to be recognised and dealt with.

For sure, particularly in the adolescent group, the 12 to 18 year group where self-management is becoming more important.

They're becoming more responsible for taking their medication.

A one-stop shop medication like Marcus referred to really makes managing their asthma much more simple.

So that leads to ultimately better control.

Yeah, treatment plans are individualised for people and encourage people to talk to their GP and talk to the asthma society if they've got questions.

But it can be one puff, one inhalation once or twice a day and then as needed if they need extra.

Diagnosis in the early age group, the sort of infant, toddler, preschool age group can be more challenging because up to a third of the under five year group will wheeze at some point with a viral infection.

Over the age of five, lung function tests can be performed which are more objective in terms of a diagnosis.

But we really look at patterns of symptoms.

So it's a variability and recurrence of symptoms of coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath over time and in response to various triggers, particularly in individuals who have allergies or eczema or a strong family history.

We see asthma being more prevalent in those groups.

So children can have long periods of time where their symptoms may be minimal and they may not even need regular asthma treatment throughout childhood.

But we tend to think of asthma in terms of going into remission where the tendency toward having those symptoms can recur at any point in their lifespan.

Yeah, when parents recognise what are the specific triggers for their children and if they know that pollen and grass season is one of them, it's best to be prepared with a good action plan to know what medications to use in terms of nasal sprays or antihistamines and asthma medications.