"Why does he wheeze?": wheezing and asthma in young children.

Wheezing is common in young children and parents often worry that the child has asthma. The diagnosis of asthma in the under-fives is not always easy but assessing the severity of wheezing and whether it is transient, intermittent, persistent or associated with viral infection helps health professionals to rationalise treatment. This article outlines the different patterns of wheezing and some current approaches to management. Although wheezing and asthma are often associated, wheezing is commonly due to viral infection and more than 60% of children who wheeze during the first three years of life have ceased to do so by six years old. Parents of young children with wheeze and/or asthma need support and consistent advice from health professionals. Parents who smoke should be encouraged and helped to stop, as exposure to tobacco smoke increases the risk of a child developing recurrent wheeze, cough and breathlessness.