Asthma in infants and young children.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. Symptoms of asthma are variable. That means that they can be mild to severe, intermittent to chronic. The one point to remember is that even when symptoms are mild, asthma should not be ignored. Untreated or under treated, asthma can lead to severe respiratory distress and in rare cases, sudden death. Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood affecting 12.5 % of children.