December 11th, 2018
Asthma is a serious disease causing wheezing, difficulty breathing, and coughing. Over a lifetime, it can cause permanent lung damage. About 16% of black children and 7% of white children have asthma. While we don’t know what causes asthma, we do know how to prevent asthma attacks or at least make them less severe. Today, children with asthma and their caregivers report fewer attacks, missed school days, and hospital visits. More children with asthma are learning to control their asthma using an asthma action plan.* Still, more than half of children with asthma had one or more attacks in 2016. Every year, 1 in 6 children with asthma visits the Emergency Department with about 1 in 20 children with asthma hospitalized for asthma.