PARENTS WARNED TO MAINTAIN CHILDREN'S ASTHMA MEDICATION OVER SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Parents must ensure children continue taking asthma medication throughout the summer holidays, medical staff have warned. Louise Tipping, a respiratory nurse at Birmingham Children's Hospital, stated that asthma attacks increase significantly in September following the school break, likely due to disruptions in medication routines during summer. According to doctors at the hospital, children who pause their medication during the six-week holidays are four times more likely to require hospital admission at the start of term. Asthma, a lung condition affecting approximately one in every 11 children, causes symptoms including coughing, wheezing, breathlessness, and chest or stomach pain.

Medical professionals advise that children should continue taking their preventer inhaler as instructed by their GP or asthma nurse, regardless of whether they appear well or have been physically active during the holidays. Parents are encouraged to keep their child's personal asthma action plan accessible and to remain prepared to respond to triggered symptoms. The warning comes as part of a campaign by Birmingham NHS Trust to raise awareness of medication adherence during the summer period, when warm weather and school break routines can lead parents to mistakenly reduce or discontinue treatment.

Tipping emphasised that maintaining consistent medication provides children with the best level of protection before they return to the classroom. The NHS guidance forms part of wider efforts to ensure children remain asthma-ready throughout the year and to prevent avoidable hospital admissions linked to the resumption of the school term.