Time to review child asthma action plans
Just as children grow out of their shoes and their school uniforms, they can also grow out of their medications. The new school year is a good time to review their asthma action plan with their GP, AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton has told the Today Show.
Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, Today Show with Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, Friday 19 January 2024
Subject: Surge in respiratory illnesses
KARL STEFANOVIC: Well, a surge in respiratory illness is raising concerns as children prepare to return to school next week.
SARAH ABO: Let's bring in Queensland President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Maria Boulton from Brisbane. Doc, thanks for your time. Now talk us through the illnesses of concern at the moment for kids.
DR MARIA BOULTON: Good morning Karl and Sarah. At the moment in Queensland we're experiencing more mycoplasma, which can cause pneumonia, and also viruses such as RSV and COVID. The worry here is that in February we also tend to see a spike in asthma cases. And we know that all those three illnesses can trigger asthma. We don't want to see more kids with asthma. We also want to make sure that if you do have a child that has asthma, that you're prepared for this asthma season.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Is it hard to tell the difference between them all?
DR MARIA BOULTON: Oh, it is Karl. I'm a doctor and I've been doing this for 20 years and it can be really difficult. I guess the main thing is to ensure that you're not missing someone with severe illness that needs to be in hospital, but also that you're treating any complications and asthma being one of them.
So now's the time, if you have a child, to go to your GP, go and review the asthma action plan. Make sure that your child is on the right doses of medications because children grow out of shoes, they grow out of their uniforms, they also grow out of their medication doses. It's really important that they're on the right dose and that they know how to use their asthma puffer and their spacer properly.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Those RSVs can be really troublesome and the kids can go down so quickly.
DR MARIA BOULTON: RSV is horrible. As a parent who's had a child with RSV bronchiolitis, it is really scary. You see children, babies come in who can be quite floppy, they can be grunty, and they can be very unwell, and it's quite scary. If you have any baby or any child who's having any issues with their breathing, they're not as responsive as normal, they're floppy, they're not drinking as much as usual, it's really important that you get urgent medical advice.
KARL STEFANOVIC: All right. Maria, thank you so much for that.
