The Child With Asthma

Abstract

This article is concerned primarily with history taking in diagnosing asthma. Allergic rhinitis is likely to precede asthma in childhood by one or more years. Asthma itself may cause fever, and there is a tendency to equate fever with infection. “Continuity” symptoms can assist greatly in distinguishing between infection and allergy. An “allergy questionnaire” is presented which has been useful both in making a diagnosis of asthma and in detecting some of the causes.