ABSTRACT
Asthma remains the number one cause of admission to the hospital, and the most common cause of missed time from school.1
Hospital admission rates for acute asthma exacerbations have increased,2 and although the annual rate of asthma mortality has stabilized, it is still significantly higher than in the past.3
Infants and young children are at particular risk for asthma morbidity. The rates of admission for asthmatic children less than 4 years of age are greater than those for all other age groups.4
Several studies have found a bimodal age distribution of exacerbations requiring intubation and assisted ventilation, with the largest peak occurring in children ~2 years of age and a second smaller peak in adolescents.5,6 Not only are young asthmatic children at greater risk for hospitalization, they are also more likely to require readmission to a hospital for repeated acute exacerbations.7 In this observational study of over 1000 children admitted to a large hospital in Australia for acute asthma, the investigators found readmission to the hospital to be a
