Asthma attacks children more –Apollo Hospital

Senior Respiratory Physician and Head of Breath Easy Clinic at Apollo Hospitals Group, India, Dr R. P. Ilangho, who made this assertion, noted that though asthma was not contagious, it was very important that parents understand that children could get asthma.“They have to be diagnosed as asthmatic not that they have a cough and a […]

Senior Respiratory Physician and Head of Breath Easy Clinic at Apollo Hospitals Group, India, Dr R. P. Ilangho, who made this assertion, noted that though asthma was not contagious, it was very important that parents understand that children could get asthma.
“They have to be diagnosed as asthmatic not that they have a cough and a cold or giving them inhalers. They need to be put on tablets and syrups. You need to identify that they have asthma and give them the correct drugs otherwise you are playing with the child’s life,” Ilangho said.
Dr Ilangho said the tests needed to check for asthma were, complete blood count which cost less, history of the chest and an X-ray of the sinuses and the pulmonary function which was a complete test involving lung function.
He added that the treatment required for asthma involved the use of inhalers.
Ilangho noted that in India, they have conducted a scientific study that stated that less than 2 per cent of Indian people used inhalers and less than 2 per cent of people used speedometers and less than 10 per cent were told what asthma was all about.
He raised alarm that  50 per cent of school absenteeism was due to asthma, and that out of 10 children that didn’t go to school on a particular day, five were because of asthma.
He said asthma posed a lot of economic burden for the entire country. “Imagine in a workforce of 100, if 33 don’t go to work because of asthma. This poses a lot of economic burden for the entire country. So the importance of asthma must be highlighted because it is being camouflaged,” he stated.