Only 1 in 5 inner-city children with chronic asthma gets enough medicine

A Johns Hopkins study suggests that only one in five inner-city children with chronic asthma gets enough medicine to control dangerous flare-ups of the disease. “It’s clear that kids who need preventive drugs aren’t getting them,� says lead author Arlene Butz, Sc.D., R.N., asthma specialist at the Children’s Center. Previous research indicates that inner-city children are at special risk because their living conditions include other asthma triggers, such as exposure to secondhand smoke and mouse and cockroach allergens.