New pediatric asthma yardstick has treatment guidance for children of every age

The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) issued a new guideline called The Pediatric Asthma Yardstick, which offers a user-friendly "operational document". The guidelines which appear in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology will help the healthcare professionals understand which controller treatments are right for which age groups and make them identify when a step up is needed.

Bradley Chipps and his associates created the yardstick because there are many options for treating pediatric asthma(PA) and the yardstick provides a roadmap to move forward especially in kids whose disease is not under control. The yardstick describes controller treatments at different levels of severity for all ages.

The diagnosis and management of PA in children differ from that in adults. Differences also exist between the three age groups addressed in the yardstick - adolescents, 12-18 years old; school-age children, 6-11 years old; infants and young children, 5 years old and under.

The recommendations are presented around patient profiles, by severity and age, and are based on current best practice strategies according to the most recent data and the authors' clinical experience.