Seasonal differences in the treatment of childhood asthma

Purpose: Seasonality of exacerbations in children with asthma are widely recognized. Many children experience lowest complaints due to asthma in summer season. The purpose of the current study was to examine the frequency of respiratory symptoms in children with asthma who were off their medication during summer season. Materials and Methods: The records of 212 children with mild and moderate asthma were retrospectively analyzed between June and September 2017 at the pediatric pulmonary section, Mersin City Training & Research Hospital. Demographic characteristics, severity of asthma symptoms, current treatment, summer and fall season asthma attacks were compared among groups. Results: Data for a total 212 children at ages between 31/2 and 18 years were analyzed. Treatment cessation in summer averaged 3.50±0.61 months in preschool children group and 3.61±0.68 months in the school-aged group with mild persistent asthma. Most patients did not report any asthma exacerbations (77.7% in preschool group and 87.0% in school-aged group) during summer. Approximately 42.6% of patients in preschool group and 32.6% of patients in school group showed variable asthma symptoms at the time of their fall clinic visit. Treatment cessation in summer averaged 3.36±0.77 months in preschool children and 3.29±0.79 months in the school-aged group with moderate persistent asthma group. Most patients did not report any asthma exacerbations (72.0% in preschool group and 70.9% in school-aged group) during summer. Approximately 44.0% of patients in preschool group and 56.2 % of patients in school group showed variable asthma symptoms at the time of their fall clinic visit. Conclusion: Most children with mild persistent asthma and moderate persistent asthma did not show any exacerbation in the absence of asthma controller treatment during summer. However, such a practice resulted an increase of asthma exacerbations during the subsequent fall season