ABSTRACT
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. According to the
latest report from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2001, of 31.1 million people who had ever been diagnosed with asthma during their
lifetime, 9.2 million were children less than 18 years old (1). The annual
prevalence of an episode of asthma during the 12 months in children younger
than 15 years of age is approximately 100/1000 populations. The rate of
current asthma prevalence for children younger than 18 is 87/1000 com-
pared to 69/1000 adults. These statistics would suggest that a considerable
number of patients who develop asthma in childhood ‘‘outgrow’’ the disease.
