Reviews and feature articleAdvances in pediatric asthma in 2009: Gaining control of childhood asthma

This year's summary will focus on recent advances in pediatric asthma as reported in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology publications in 2009. New National Asthma Education and Prevention Program asthma guidelines were released in 2007, with a particular emphasis on asthma control. Now that we have worked with the principals of the guidelines for 2 years, new insights are reported on how to implement the guidelines into clinical practice. This year's report will focus on gaps in management that need to be addressed, including health disparities, methods to improve asthma management through opportunities available in school-based asthma programs, and more information on the development of asthma in childhood. This information brings us closer to the point of managing children with controllable asthma and understanding reasons why asthma is not controlled in the remaining children. If we can close these gaps through better communication, improvements in the health care system, and new insights into treatment, we will move closer to better methods to intervene early in the course of the disease and induce clinical remission as quickly as possible in most children.