The Coastside Family Medical Center has received a grant to train about a dozen health organizers to help with the respiratory disease. Cecilia Murillo, director of development for the health center, says the health workers will be trained particularly to help children and Hispanic families.
“In Half Moon Bay, asthma in general is on the rise as a chronic disease,” Murillo said. “So we have to help our community manage.”
 One of several student inhalers kept at Seacrest School in case a student with asthma needs medication, is held up on the playground where kids are at recess. |
A number of theories have been introduced to explain why asthma rates are so much higher today than in past decades. Some researchers pin blame on an unlikely culprit: hygiene.
An infant with a sanitized upbringing can become a toddler with an underdeveloped immune system, says Dr. Allan Weisshar, a pediatrician at the Coastside Family Medical Center.
“But in families with a predisposition to asthma, those kids with colds and viruses in their younger days have less asthma later on,” Weisshar said.
Ultimately, higher rates of asthma may be something we have to live with, Weisshar says, because the danger of leaving kids exposed to illnesses can carry bigger risks.
The local pediatrician says that about one out of every four patients he treats has asthma.
Like diabeties, asthma requires constant medication and maintenance, says Maureen Perron, president of the Coastside Health Committee. But even if patients are given medication and instruction for asthma, many still have trouble following the proper regimen for their treatment.
Local health officials believe stronger education with community organizers could help ameliorate this problem. Murillo says that the community health workers should be ready to help people with asthma within a month.
“With any chronic disease, what makes compliance substantially better is education,” Weisshar said.
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