The back-to-school season means more than new backpacks and textbooks for many U.S. children. According to researchers from Long Island Jewish Medical Center and New York University School of Medicine in New York, the start of the September school year is associated with a rise in the number of visits to the emergency department for asthma symptoms.
Researchers examined the emergency department (ED) records for 11 New York City hospitals for the years 1991 to 2002. For each year, they tracked asthma emergency department visits that occurred between August 12 and October 10. This 2-month window allowed them to compare asthma trends a month before and a month after the start of the typical school year.
The results? Following the start of the school year, asthma emergency department visits in grade-school children increased 46%. The greatest rise in emergency department visits occurred within the first 10 days after school opened, although the number of visits to the ED started to increase even before the first day of school.
The authors of this study suggest that exposure to viruses at school could contribute to worsening asthma symptoms around the start of the school year. The stress and emotions surrounding the return to school could also influence asthma symptoms in some children, as could exposure to indoor irritants such as school dust and pet dander brought to school by other kids.
What This Means to You: A new school year offers the perfect opportunity to ensure your child's asthma management plan is up-to-date, especially since asthma symptoms may worsen around the start of the school year. Review your child's plan and medications with his or her doctor, and ensure your child carries rescue medications for asthma flare-ups in his or her backpack or purse, if he or she needs them. You may also want to review the asthma plan with your child's teachers or school administrators, so they know what to do if your child has an asthma flare-up during school hours.
Source: Robert A. Silverman, MD; Kazuhiko Ito, PhD; Lori Stevenson, MPH; Harold M. Hastings, PhD; Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, September 2005
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: September 2005
