Background: Bronchial asthma is a disease with significant ethnic and regional variations, and this will cause an increasing morbidity and mortality, as well as health care burden in developing countries like India. There are lot of triggering factors for the precipitation of bronchial asthma in children, especially in the present era of air pollution. This study was on the profile of childhood asthma and various triggering factors of bronchial asthma among patients attending paediatric asthma clinic.

Materials & Method: A hospital based descriptive study conducted among children attended in asthma clinic, and diagnosed as bronchial asthma during the period of January 2014 to February 2015. The study was conducted in a tertiary level teaching hospital in Kerala State of India.

Results: Majority, 54% (54/100) of the bronchial asthma patients registered in Paediatric asthma clinic were in the age group of 5-8 years. 37% (37/100) children were suffering from moderate persistent bronchial asthma, 29% (29/100) intermittent variety and 11% from severe asthma. 51% of patients were found to have a positive family history of Reactive airway disease, and 17% have family history of allergic rhinitis.

Conclusion: The severity of bronchial asthma increases mainly at the level of school entry due to more exposure to triggers. Most of the cases have a strong association with history of bronchial asthma in family. Most of the exacerbation of bronchial asthma is triggered by factors which can be avoided by providing better air for better breathing.

Keywords: Triggers; Persistent Asthma; Reactive airway disease; Acute Exacerbation.

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Shaji SM

Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Sree Gokulam Medical College & Research Foundation, Trivandrum, Kerala, India