Start Back-to-School Asthma Preparations Now

Asthma Australia is reminding parents of children with asthma to begin preparing for the new school year.

More than 460,000 Australians under the age of 14 have asthma. Over the holidays it is easy to fall out of a routine of asthma prevention and management, especially for children.

Unfortunately, this is one of the contributing factors to the annual rise in hospitalisations for young people with asthma during the return to school.

Asthma Australia has compiled a list to help parents and children manage asthma during the holiday break and as they prepare for the new school year. Included in the list:

• Check your child’s medications – are they still in date? Do they require replacing?
• Keep vigilant with your child’s preventer medication and ensure you give or they take preventer as prescribed, even when well – this is the mainstay of asthma management.
• Follow your child’s written Asthma Action Plan for a happy and healthy holiday.
• See your GP before the return to school, for an asthma review to discuss recent asthma symptoms and control, medication use, triggers over spring and summer and consider any allergies or environmental triggers that affect your child.  Ask for an update to your child’s written Asthma Action Plan for everyday use and have you and your child undertake a face-to-face inhaler technique check. Check with your GP to ensure your child is getting the correct dose of medicine into their lungs.
• Recognise early signs of worsening asthma.
• Understand your child’s triggers and take steps to avoid or manage them as discussed with their doctor and outlined on your child’s written Asthma Action Plan. Continue to monitor and manage allergies such as hay fever that can make asthma worse, discuss your child’s allergies with your doctor if you are concerned.
• Follow COVID-19 social distancing and hygiene advice.
• Stay up to date on weather conditions and be aware of high pollen or poor air quality days, particularly over the summer bushfire season.

For more information, advice and resources, visit Asthma Australia’s web page ‘How to Manage Asthma at School’. Call Asthma Australia on 1800 278 462.