Another case of preventable death from asthma

Abstract

Introduction

Asthma prevalence is 262 million globally, with more than 1,000 deaths each day, most of them preventable. We were performing a longitudinal study, in Brazil, with the objective to following up patients who had a severe asthma attack and attended an emergency room (ATTACK Study). Here we present a case of a 28-year-old woman presenting what was considered moderate asthma, enrolled in ATTACK, who subsequently died of asthma.

Case Study

The patient was initially evaluated at an emergency room (ER) with uncontrolled asthma and no regular treatment. She had an asthma diagnosis just before this visit to the ER, despite presenting symptoms of asthma since childhood. She was subsequently evaluated by a specialist, who prescribed a treatment with regular inhaled corticosteroid and an inhaled bronchodilator, if necessary. The patient was systematically monitored by telephone for six months.

Results

The patient did not adhere to the treatment, in spite of repeated warnings, and 6 months later had an asthma attack resulting in her death.

Conclusion

It is important to prioritize asthma in primary health care, including building capacity health care professionals for early diagnosis, asthma management, and to educate patients with asthma patients for the identification of worsening and signs of severity, to manage the exacerbations according to a written asthma plan. This may reduce the number of premature and preventable asthma deaths.

Keywords:

• Wheezing
• bronchospasm
• exacerbation
• public health
• national action plan

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Health Research, UK under Grant reference GHR 17/63/62.