The number of Scottish children being hospitalised for asthma attacks in September nearly triples after starting the new school term, a charity has warned.

Ahead of the new school year, Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said that, according to its analysis, many children could be at risk of having a potentially life-threatening asthma attack after returning to the classroom. 

Preventer inhaler routines can get disrupted over the holidays, so children's airways can be more sensitive to asthma triggers when they go back to school, the charity added.

With an estimated 71,000 children with asthma in Scotland, Asthma + Lung UK Scotland research revealed that over the past seven years, hospital admissions for children aged 5 to 19 in Scotland spike in August and September when children return to school, compared to July.

Alison Deans is a nurse living in East Kilbride. Her sons are 11 and 5 and were pre-schoolers before they started to develop asthma.

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She said: “It is always a slightly anxious time for a mum when your children return to school for the autumn, or when they start school for the first time as my youngest is about to, as they are more susceptible to coughs and colds and picking up the inevitable bugs that are going around. And no one wants this to become a trigger for your child to have an asthma attack.

“It’s easy over the summer holidays to fall out of the routine of taking medicines, so I try to be extra mindful for the boys to continue with their preventer medicines to help give them more protection as they head back to the classroom.”

Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said: “We already know that when children go back to school after the summer holidays, we often see a spike in the number of asthma attacks, which leads to more hospital admissions.

"This is for several reasons, such as being exposed to more colds and other viruses or dust mites in a school setting, or seasonal allergies such as mould.

"Some youngsters might also fall out of their usual preventer inhaler routines over the summer break, which can leave them much more vulnerable to an asthma attack when they return to school and are around more triggers for their asthma.”