Asthma Exacerbations Assessment task 1A: Proof Of Concept Report Assignment Solution

Background of Asthma:

Asthma is a respiratory condition that is often characterised by chronic inflammation of the airways. This condition occurs across all age groups and sex. More often than not, asthma in adulthood often begins during childhood and progresses towers adulthood.  The exact cause of asthma is not fully known, but most researchers have linked asthma to genetic and environmental factors (Beasley, Hardy & Hancox, 2017). In most asthma cases, the difficulty experienced while breathing is brought about by the obstruction of air that is entering the lungs. Other symptoms that are present in asthma are chest tightness, coughing especially at night and early in the morning, bronchospasm, and wheezing. The bronchial tubes of those who suffer from asthma are highly sensitive to triggers or stimuli. For this reason, they can easily develop the asthma symptoms when exposes to such triggers.  Asthmatic attacks can vary from mild, to moderate and severe. Depending on the severity of the attack, the management if the condition varies from one patient to another.

Over the years, Asthma has been one of the most common chronic diseases in various countries more so Australia. Asthma is, therefore, a major public health burden that Australia faces especially as it has a great contribution to absenteeism both at school for school going children and at work for working-class populations. The rise of asthma cases has been attributed to the increased reports of air pollution, environmental toxins and increase smoking among various populations.  The number is on the increase, and more Australians are being affected today. Globally, Australia is one of the countries that have the highest numbers of Asthma cases (Jackson et al., 2015). Every year, about 1.2 percent of the total health budget of Australia is spent on asthma control as it affects about 2 million Australians. However, due to the improvement of management of Asthma among the population, the number of cases is currently being controlled.  These improvements have been attributed to public health campaigns which target to create awareness and increase in the effective management of asthma to improve the outcomes of health. 

Exacerbations of Asthma have been known to be life-threatening. Exacerbations substantially increase the mortality and morbidity rate associated with asthma (Fahy, 2015). An exacerbation can either be mild or severe. Exacerbations pose a great challenge for managing them are quite difficult especially using the optimal medical conditions. A common type of exacerbation that has been reported is the virus-induced exacerbations. Rhinovirus, a virus responsible for common cold, is the most common culprit of virus-induced exacerbations (Busse, Lemanske & Gern, 2010). Management of virus-induced exacerbations cannot be sufficient with just doubling of corticosteroids. Due to the failure of the usual asthma drugs to treat exacerbations, various methods have been developed to deal with this exacerbation.  A new method of treatment that can be used in the management of virus-induced exacerbation is a combination therapy of the following drugs.  Inhaled corticosteroid remains the main drug of choice for asthma exacerbation but can be combined with leukotriene receptor antagonist such as montelukast, anti-IgE therapy such as omalizumab and more important for viral control an antiviral is used (Esquivel et al.,2017). This combination therapy has been evidenced to be effective as far as virus-induced exacerbation are concerned.