Group Helps Parents Manage Children's Asthma

SAN DIEGO -- Christopher De La Salas runs and plays like any other healthy 18-month-old. But not too long ago, he seemed constantly sick and run down.

"Every other week we would be at the doctors. He would have a cold and he would have a cough, it would last for weeks," Christopher's mother Eva De La Salas (pictured, left) said.

De La Salas' condition grew worse as the months went by. "I could see him heaving and he was wheezing, and it was scary," she said.

It wasn't until De La Salas took her son to the hospital and doctors took an X-ray of his chest that they were finally able to diagnose the problem. It was asthma.

After reading up on the disease, De La Salas found that she still couldn't prevent her son's severe attacks. That's when a friend suggested she call the San Diego Childhood Asthma Initiative (SDCIA).

The SDCIA is the result of a collaborative effort, involving the American Lung Association, Children's Hospital and Health Center, and the Council of Community Clinics.

Funded by the First 5 Commission of San Diego, the SDCIA helps parents manage their children's asthma.

The SDCIA provides experts, who go into the home several times over the course of a year to teach parents about asthma treatments and prevention.

It also works with health clinics to provide asthma medicine and treatments to children who don't have health insurance.

Asthma is an important issue to the First 5 Commission of San Diego, not only because it affects the health of children under the age of five, but untreated asthma can also take time away from school.

Experts like Julie Malanga work with families to prevent those sick days.

"I go into great detail about what asthma is, how to avoid hospitalizations, what the medications are, what the side effects are," Malanga said.

She also works closely with the child's pediatrician to make sure he or she is taking the right medicine. She also focuses on what could be causing the asthma attacks, in the child's home.

"I go through really extensive environmental education with the family to try to figure out over the course of 12 months -- because that's how long the program is -- what the triggers are for this child and maybe avoiding those triggers, avoiding hospitalizations, avoiding use of those medications," Malanga said.

Those triggers include dust mites that cling to bedding, stuffed animals, carpet, and curtains. Dust and pollen in window screens can be a problem. Mold found in the bathroom, kitchen, and even a baby's humidifier, can also spell trouble.

"One of the first things I mention with the kitchen is that if they're going to be cooking, they use the fan above the stove, or have the window open," Malanga said.

"It's not just cigarette smoke that can trigger asthma. It's smoke from cooking; it's smoke from barbecues, smoke from cars that can be an irritant for an asthmatic," she said.

Now that De La Salas knows how to handle her son's asthma, she is taking steps to ensure he won't suffer any more severe attacks.

"For example, when he starts wheezing then I know what to do. Or if he coughs, then I sort of watch him ... when he stops playing then I know there's something wrong," she said.

The SDCIA originally offered free services to children ages 0-5 across the South Bay. It recently expanded to include the east and north county areas as well.