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Call the doctor when your child... |
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Doesn't improve with oral steroids.
Has a peak flow in the Red Zone, and still decreasing.
Needs the rescue inhaler more often than every three hours.
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Preventing Asthma Attacks...
The key to prevention is to know your child's asthma triggers.
Allergens
- Smoking. Children of smokers tend to have more frequent and severe asthma attacks. Get the help you need to quit smoking, for your child's sake as well as your own. Clean the curtains, rugs and the inside of the car where fallout from smoke collects and can itself trigger asthma attacks.
- Pollens. Difficult times are during the spring and fall, and on sunny days after heavy rain.
Illness
Colds and flu bring on asthma attacks. Keep your child warm in the winter and talk to your child's pediatrician about a flu shot. Good hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of viral illness.
Activity
There are medications that help prevent asthma attacks during physical activity.
More on Asthma in Children Flu Shots Fight Asthma
In the Encyclopedia: Occupational asthma
Wheezing
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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