New U.S. guidelines look hard at childhood asthma

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New guidelines unveiled by U.S. federal health experts on Wednesday for tackling asthma carve out a new age group, children 5 to 11, for unique treatment.

Drugs known as inhaled corticosteroids remain the best long-term treatment to control asthma in all age groups, according to experts convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The new guidelines -- the first thorough update in 10 years of U.S. recommendations on treating and diagnosing asthma -- gave special attention to the growing problem of childhood asthma. They also offered new advice on drugs and controlling environmental factors that may trigger symptoms.

Existing guidelines had called for children 5 to 11 to treated the same as adults.

The guidelines now specify three age groups to get different treatment for asthma: birth to 4 years, 5 to 11 and 12 and older.

The middle group was created due to new evidence on drugs for these children and emerging signs that they may respond differently to asthma medications than adults.

The recommendations point to newer drugs to help control the immune over-reaction seen in severe allergic asthma. Xolair, made by Genentech and Novartis, is a biotech drug that blocks the immune system compound immunoglobulin E, which is overproduced during an allergic asthma attack.

Known generically as omalizumab, Xolair is injected and approved only for people over the age of 12 with severe asthma.