Does childhood asthma care need an update?

The guidelines for asthma care in adolescents and adults have been changed, but what about children?

Children aged six to 11 years are still being prescribed the blue puffer as first-line therapy, while older people are prescribed a combination inhaler with a corticosteroid.

Now a major New Zealand study published in the Lancet suggests children should also be swapped over to a combined inhaler to reduce asthma attacks.

Guest/s

• Dr Paul Robinson, Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Queensland Children’s Hospital and a Research Leader at the Woolcock Research Institute

References

• Budesonide–formoterol versus salbutamol as reliever therapy in children with mild asthma (CARE): a 52-week, open-label, multicentre, superiority, randomised controlled trial