Asthma hospitalizations now represent about 3 percent of all hospitalizations among children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Hospital Discharge Survey. In numbers, this means twenty-seven hospitalizations for asthma per 10,000 children for a total of 198,000 hospitalizations nationwide a year. This makes it the third leading cause of hospitalization in the country for children.

High But Steady Rates

These national statistics, based on data from 2004, provide some measure of good news: From 1980 through the mid-1990s, asthma hospitalization rates for children from infancy through seventeen years of age climbed steadily upward. However, by the late 1990s, these rates flattened out, although at historically high levels. Unfortunately, behind these numbers is some sobering news: While the hospitalization rates are holding steady, the types of pediatric asthma cases now being seen in hospitals are more severe than ever.

Potential Prevented Cases

Between 15 to 54 percent of all annual pediatric asthma hospitalizations in the United States (about 29,000 to 106,000 cases) could have been averted, according to a study performed at a Boston Medical Center of children admitted for asthma treatment. Also, an estimated $161 million to $581 million could be saved annually with several preventive steps.

The study, which surveyed parents, primary care health care providers, and inpatient attending physicians, found that many of the hospitalizations could have been avoided with better education about the child's condition, medication use, the need for follow-up care, and the importance of avoiding known disease triggers.