Childhood asthma: Application of the international view of management in Australia and New Zealand*

Immunotherapy in asthma: an updated systematic review

“…Although beneficial effects upon clinically relevant outcomes have been demonstrated in randomized controlled trials, there remains a risk of severe and sometimes fatal anaphylaxis. The recommendations of professional bodies have ranged from cautious acceptance (1) to outright dismissal (2). A recent WHO position paper, which has been endorsed by eight other international and national bodies, concluded that allergen immunotherapy was an effective treatment for patients with allergic asthma (3).…”

Sublingual immunotherapy abrogates seasonal bronchial hyperresponsiveness in children with Parietaria‐induced respiratory allergy: a randomized controlled trial†

“…Although it has been widely used for over 80 years, the role of allergen‐specific immunotherapy (SIT) in the treatment of bronchial asthma in children is still a matter of debate (1–3). The British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology advised against the use of immunotherapy in patients less than 5 years of age, for safety reasons, and also raised some doubts on the usefulness for the treatment of asthma.…”

Management of childhood asthma in Western Australia

“…Despite major advances in the management of childhood asthma in recent decades, asthma remains the most common single reason for hospitalisation in early life and imposes a considerable economic burden on the Australian health‐care system and on individuals 3–7 . Efforts to reduce the burden of childhood asthma in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in the development of national and international consensus statements 8–10 . The NAC produces comprehensive guidelines for the management of asthma in both adults and children and recently released the updated Asthma Management Handbook, 1 which advocates a step‐up approach to management of childhood asthma.…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7] Efforts to reduce the burden of childhood asthma in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in the development of national and international consensus statements. [8][9][10] The NAC produces comprehensive guidelines for the management of asthma in both adults and children and recently released the updated Asthma Management Handbook, 1 which advocates a step-up approach to management of childhood asthma. However, the existence of management guidelines does not necessarily mean that they influence the management preferences and practices of medical practitioners treating children with asthma.…”