Tulane researchers find roach bait reduces asthma in kids, and other area higher education news

Kids have asthma? Invest in roach bait
Families with children who suffer from asthma may want to consider investing in bait traps used to kill cockroaches, according to researchers from Tulane University.
In a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the researchers found that using cockroach bait eliminated enough of the pests so that children with moderate to severe asthma had almost 50 fewer days with symptoms in a year.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess whether insecticidal bait alone works to reduce cockroach exposure in homes with any subsequent benefit in asthma outcomes,” said lead author Felicia Rabito, associate professor of epidemiology at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.....

Read more here: theadvocate.com

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Asthma ‘February epidemic’ looms

Ahead of the start of the 2017 school year, the National Asthma Council Australia is asking pharmacists to help their young asthma patients be ready for a safe return to the classroom
The ‘February Epidemic’, a big asthma spike in children immediately after school goes back, is a well-recognised and documented phenomenon.
Studies in Australia and the UK have shown asthma hospitalisations surge during the first month of the school year, with cases in Australia rising as much as threefold in children aged five to 14 years and doubling in pre-schoolers.....

Read more here: ajp.com.au

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Girl who died from asthma attack allowed to eat only junk food as life ebbed away

A 13-YEAR-old girl who died from asthma in a “putrid” ­rodent- and mould-infested home had ballooned to a woman’s size 18 by the time of her death, friends and relatives have revealed.
Her parents let her gorge on sausages and chicken nuggets and even sent her to school in clothes that didn’t fit, with her aunt saying it was “a miracle she made it to the age of 13”.
Her loved ones have also accused Family and Community Services of putting cost-cutting above the child’s life as more details of systemic bungling in the case can be revealed.....

Read more here: dailytelegraph.com.au