Chandra Sekhar Kondapalli1 , Tabitha Glory U.2
BACKGROUND Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways characterized by an obstruction of airflow, which may be completely or partially reversed with or without specific therapy. We wanted to study the clinical features of bronchial asthma in children, determine the presence of risk factors among children with bronchial asthma, study the usefulness of PEFR in asthmatic children and observe its response to bronchodilator therapy. METHODS This is a hospital based observational study conducted among 86 children aged between 5 years and 15 years suffering from with bronchial asthma. Detailed history, clinical examination, investigations and the PEFR before and after salbutamol nebulization was recorded in symptomatic bronchial asthma children in 5-15 years of age group. RESULTS The incidence of bronchial asthma was more in children of more than 9 years of age. The male to female ratio was 1.38:1. Cough and breathlessness were the major presenting symptoms. The incidence of asthma was more in children of middle class comprising of 67%. The incidence was more in children living in urban areas when compared with children hailing from rural areas comprising of 62 and 24. The incidence was more in children born at term when compared with preterm children comprising of 76 and 10. The incidence was more in children delivered normally against LSCS comprising of 63 and 23. Bronchial asthma was seen in all the children irrespective of the feeding practices. CONCLUSIONS Bronchial asthma is a major respiratory disease in children which causes morbidity and prolonged treatment to control and prevent acute exacerbations. The incidence of bronchial asthma can be reduced by preventing major risk factors but, it may not be possible to completely prevent it.
