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Many teachers each year make the diagnosis of asthma in their students. Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children.
Dr. Paul Ehrlich is an editor of The Mothers of Asthmatics Report, published by the Allergy and Asthma Network, and the co-author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Allergies and Asthma (Warner Books). He is also the medical director of Project E.R.A.S.E., which works with asthma specialists to evaluate New York City children in underprivileged areas.
Dr. Ehrlich put together this list of tips for teachers:
1. Learn at the beginning of each school year which children in your class have asthma including the severity of their problem (mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate or severe.
2. Find out what daily medications they are on and what rescue medications they may need.
3. Be sure that your school nurse and the administration are aware who these children are. Asthma can cause death very quickly in young children with small airways.
4. Research more about asthma online. Along with the American Lung Association, the following sites are a good place to start:
• Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatic, breatherville.org
• Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, sleepworkplay.org
• Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, foodallergy.org
5. Promote educational programs about asthma in your school. For example, in New York City, a program called Project Erase brings expert asthma doctors into the schools. Visit projecterase.com for more information.
6. Encourage parents to seek help from their pediatricians or asthma
specialists—allergists or pediatric pulmonologists—if you suspect asthma.
Dr. Ehrlich suggests keeping an eye out for the following warning signs in your classroom, especially in children you know to have asthma.
• Noisy breathing or wheezing. Although the absence of audible sounds like this does not rule out asthma.
• Rapid breathing. Time breaths per 15 seconds and multiply by 4. Thirty breaths per minute is suspicious, but that number may be lower in older children.
• Abnormally quiet children. Young children are active and often rambunctious.
• If a child is tired in class or answers in a breathless manner. Active asthma may be the problem.
• Abnormal pallor. A “blue” look, especially of the lips, is a severe warning sign.
• Problems with dusty floors or chalk dust. The child who has problems at rest time while on a blanket may be an asthmatic.
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