Primary schools: Four out of five primary schools have children with asthma attending, yet just one in five has specific guidelines in place for dealing with asthma suffers, a new survey has found.
Now, in an effort to highlight just how easily manageable the condition is, the Asthma Society of Ireland has launched a booklet aimed at teachers. The booklet has been sent to all 3,300 primary schools in the Republic.
The survey found that only about one-quarter of teachers in schools with asthma-suffering pupils feel comfortable with the training they have been given.
The booklet contains guidelines for teachers who want to find out about asthma and develop a policy for managing asthma, said Dr Pat Manning, consultant respiratory physician and chairman of the Asthma Society Medical committee.
Ireland had the fourth highest incidence of asthma in a survey of 56 countries.
"There is no reason why children with asthma cannot lead a normal life, do physical exercise, take part in sport, etc," said Dr Dubhfeasa Slattery, a consultant respiratory paediatrician at Temple Street Hospital. "It should not curtail their activities in any way."
She said despite the high incidence of asthma, most children grew out of it. Only about 5 per cent of adults have asthma.
However, she said, when faced with it in the classroom, teachers should be prepared in case a child has an attack. "Handling asthma does require a little bit of training," said Ms Slattery.
She advises parents to ensure their children have medication with them at all times. "A lot of medication is locked away. . . it should be labelled in school and easily accessible, so that it can be accessed if a child feels unwell."
Ms Slattery said children should always carry another reliever medication with them if they are doing sport, so that it can be taken immediately. "You don't want it in a classroom which is 10 minutes away," she said.
From a teacher's viewpoint, asthma should be easy to handle, she said, as sufferers can take preventative medication in the mornings and evenings.
She and Dr Manning, who drew up the guidelines for the schools, advocate an asthma report card system. They said it should be completed every year by parents so that teachers would know if a child's medication had changed.
The survey, supported by pharmaceutical multinational AstraZeneca, was conducted by 150 primary schools. It was launched in response to the rising number of queries the asthma society was getting from teachers.