[Economic burden assessment for the management of asthma patients at Mexico's National Institute for Respiratory Diseases].

Objetivo: Determinar la carga económica anual del asma, desde una perspectiva institucional y con base en la clasificación recomendada por GINA, en una cohorte retrospectiva de adultos atendidos en el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER) de México.

MÉtodos: Estudio observacional, longitudinal y retrospectivo, llevado a cabo a partir de la información recabada de 247 pacientes femeninas con asma. Se estimaron los costos directos anuales: visitas, pruebas de laboratorio, tratamiento farmacológico y de las crisis o exacerbaciones, para determinar la carga anual de la enfermedad desde una perspectiva institucional, y según la clasificación de la Iniciativa Global para el Asma.

An online survey detected knowledge gaps and cost-saving opportunities in asthma maintenance treatment among allergists, pulmonologists, ENTs and primary care.

Background: In April 2017 the Mexican Asthma Guidelines (GUIMA) were published. Before the launch, physicians' knowledge was explored related to key issues of the guideline.

Methods: A SurveyMonkey® survey was sent out to board-certified physicians of 5 medical specialties treating asthma.

[Case report: Respiratory syncytial virus].

Background: The Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most important viral pathogen in children under 2 years of age, which warrants hospitalization for a low respiratory infection. 0.5% of children under 5 with RSV infection require hospitalization.

Pediatric asthma treatment: What to do when international guideline recommendations do not agree.

Background: There was a need for a solid asthma guideline in Mexico to update and unify asthma management. Because high-quality asthma guidelines exist worldwide, in which the latest evidence on asthma management is summarized, the ADAPTE approach allows for the development of a national asthma guideline based on evidence from already existing guidelines, adapted to national needs.

Objective: To fuse evidence from the best asthma guidelines and adapt it to local needs with the ADAPTE approach.

[Mexican Asthma Guidelines: GUIMA 2017].

Background: The need for a national guideline, with a broad basis among specialists and primary care physicians was felt in Mexico, to try unifying asthma management. As several high-quality asthma guidelines exist worldwide, it was decided to select the best three for transculturation.

Methods: Following the internationally recommended methodology for guideline transculturation, ADAPTE, a literature search for asthma guidelines, published 1-1-2007 through 31-12-2015 was conducted.

[Special considerations in children under five years with asthma].

Currently, clinical practice guidelines and international guidelines on diagnosis and management of asthma, including special considerations in patients under five years old, given the frequent respiratory morbidity associated with this age group and poor or no cooperation from the child for testing respiratory function, favoring the underdiagnosis, delaying treatment and affecting the proper assessment of severity, level of control, and adequate clinical response to treatment. That is why the proper understanding of the natural history and the different phenotypes in infants and toddlers, allow for functional and clinical considerations on the progression of asthma from early childhood to adulthood, being necessary to make a special deal considering personal and family history, symptoms and progression of comorbidities exist which in turn will classify, monitor and plan treatment to achieve and maintain control of the disease, so far as asthma is not cured but their control is achieved in most patients. The doctor-patient interaction, family, education, control of risk factors and comorbidities, assessment, treatment and monitoring of the development of asthma are the foundation for success in the management of asthmatic patients.