Theresa W Guilbert, AAAAI 2023: Health and economic burden of asthma exacerbations in children
touchRESPIRATORY were delighted to speak with Dr Theresa W Guilbert (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Medical Center; University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA) about the health and economic burden of asthma exacerbations in children, and the limitations of current therapeutic options for children with asthma.
The abstract ‘Impact Of Exacerbation History On Dupilumab Efficacy In Children With Asthma In The VOYAGE Study‘ (Abstract number: 058) was presented at AAAAI 2023, February 24–27, 2022, #AAAAI2023.
Questions
- Could you give us a brief overview of the health and economic burden of asthma exacerbations in children? (0:19)
- What are the limitations of current therapeutic options for asthma exacerbations in children? (1:03)
Disclosures: Theresa W Guilbert discloses the following: consultant for AiCME, Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA); grant/research support from Sanofi/Regeneron/Amgen, AstraZeneca, OM Pharma; advisory board for Sanofi, Regeneron, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Genentech, Polarean, OM Pharma.
Support: Interview and filming supported by Touch Medical Media Ltd. Interview conducted by Atiya Henry.
Filmed in coverage of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting 2023.
Transcript:
Hi, my name is Dr Theresa Guilbert. I’m a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Could you give us a brief overview of the health and economic burden of asthma exacerbations in children? (0:19)
Asthma exacerbations are a leading cause of health related costs. Asthma itself has led to $57 billion in costs in the United States in the past year or so, per year. So quite costly. It’s the most common reason kids are hospitalized and one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood. So it’s a very important problem, very frequent problem that we see in the hospital. And we also know that exacerbation history itself is a risk factor for future exacerbation. So if you had an exacerbation in the past, you’re likely to have an exacerbation moving forward.
What are the limitations of current therapeutic options for asthma exacerbations in children? (1:03)
Traditionally we’ve had inhaled medications like inhaled corticosteroids that could be in combination with a second controller, like a long acting beta agonist. And we do know that the daily use of those medications does reduce the risk of exacerbations by about 30 to 50%, depending on the study and the age group that you’re looking at. So it’s able to reduce it, but not reduce it completely. And now in the era of biologic therapy, we’ve actually seen more like 70 to sometimes no exacerbations while children are on these medications. So it’s been sort of an advance in the field and that they’ve been a little more effective in reducing hospitalizations and severe exacerbations.
Subtitles and transcript are autogenerated
