Flu Can Worsen Your Child’s Asthma

Children with asthma do poorly in response to viral infections. Any viral infection can trigger asthma. The most common viral infection is the common cold and it is one of the leading causes of wheezing in children. Similarly, the seasonal flu virus can also aggravate asthma. Children with mild asthma can get very sick when they catch the flu virus. So, it is highly recommended that all children with mild or severe asthma should receive a yearly flu vaccine.

To read more about how flu can worsen your child’s asthma please click on this link provided by CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/asthma/

Shortness of Breath

Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing can be from various reasons. If your child breaths heavily then it can be from the following reasons:

  1. Nasal blockage
  2. Swelling/ infection in the throat
  3. Large tonsils or adenoids
  4. Swelling of the trachea(windpipe)
  5. Swelling of airways (as in asthma or bronchitis)
  6. Infection of the lungs (pneumonia)

The child needs to be examined carefully by a pediatrician.

Asthma and Allergies

Asthma and allergies are highly linked together. If your child has seasonal allergies along with coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath than chances that he or she has asthma are very high. If your child has environmental allergies and has the following symptoms then you should talk to your pediatrician as he or she may have asthma.

  • Coughs that last longer than 3 weeks.
  • Shortness of breath and or coughing with physical exercises.
  • Wheezing (Whistling noise when your child breaths).
  • Coughing during sleep.

Early Childhood Asthma

Many parents worry when their toddler is given the diagnosis of asthma by their pediatrician. The symptoms of asthma could be:

  1. Wheezing.
  2. Deep congested cough.
  3. Difficulty in breathing.

These symptoms generally start after the toddler is exposed to a common cold. So, many kids have runny nose along with the above symptoms. Generally, these kids are playful, they are eating well and they do not have a fever. But the deep congested cough is bothersome and it is usually worse at night. Nighttime worsening of symptoms causes stress to the family.

Treatments for early childhood asthma is simple and it works in most patients:

  1. Albuterol via nebulization or via inhaler
  2. Inhaled corticosteroids.
  3. Oral steroids if wheezing is extensive and the child has difficulty breathing.

The good news is, the long-term outcome of early childhood asthma is excellent and most kids grow out of this problem by the time they are 2-5 years old and many more by 13 years of age. In some patients, symptoms of asthma can persist, especially if there is a strong family history of asthma, history of eczema or allergies.