Trends in adolescent asthma in Israel

Abstract

There has been observed a worldwide increase in childhood asthma and this short communication reviews current research on adolescent asthma in Israel. Several studies have found an overall asthma prevalence of 7.8% for Jewish children, 4.9% for Arab children and 3.7% for the total population, while 7.8% was found in Bedouin children in the south of Israel. For the 1980-1997 period for the 5-34 year age group the AMR (asthma mortality rate) per 100,000 was found to be 0.226 with no significant difference between Jews and Arabs. This is a decrease as a result of increase in the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and a better anti-inflammatory treatment.