[Acute asthma prevalence in children and teenagers from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico].
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the number of asthma attacks treated in the emergency room of a public hospital and to study seasonal fluctuations.


METHODS
A retrospective survey was conducted in the pediatrician emergency room of General Hospital Agustin O'Horan in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico during one year (January 1 to December 31st, 2005). A total of 7,674 emergency room consultations were registered during a period of one year. All patients were younger than 14 years old.


RESULTS
Among the conditions treated, acute asthma (10.3%) was the third most common diagnosis. There were 622 children with asthma, 376 boys (60%). Most of the asthma consultations (22.6%) involved children of 1 year old of age. The consultation for asthma attacks increased in December (18.4%), October (14.1%) and September (12.2%). A significative association was found between the monthly number of emergency room visits due to acute asthma and upper respiratory infections (r = 0.9059, p = < 0.001, I.C. 99%).


CONCLUSIONS
The acute asthma is one of the most frequent emergency consult causes in children and there was a positive association between acute asthma and upper respiratory infections.
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México.
José Miguel A
JM
Aguilar Ríos
Verónica
V
León Burgos
Manuel A
MA
Baeza Bacab
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons