Patty Loew:
We begin this week with an update on the H1N1 flu threat. Among the risk groups, people with asthma. Milwaukee ranks fifth worst in the country for asthma sufferers. As Frederica Freyberg reports, that's complicating the fight against H1N1 in Milwaukee.

Doctor:
She's a little wheezy. Really coarse breath sounds.

Frederica Freyberg:
Baby Olivia has asthma. Doctors at Children's Hospital Downtown Health Center have worked to stabilize her condition. Her mother worries about Olivia getting H1N1, which swamped doctors and emergency rooms when it slammed Milwaukee last spring.

Doctor John Meurer:
We were overwhelmed with concerns from parents and overwhelmed with phone calls, particularly when the schools close. We hope with a lot of preparation that things will be better this fall and winter.

Frederica Freyberg:
Doctors are hoping it’s better, because people with asthma are at higher risk for complications from H1N1, like pneumonia. They say, here is what to watch for.

John Meurer:
They may have serious problems with coughing at night, wheezing when they play and shortness of breath requiring an emergency visit.
Bevan Baker:
We saw that most people were seeking the emergency rooms because they were having complications due to influenza and asthma.

Frederica Freyberg:
Milwaukee's health commissioner says the city's high rate of asthma among children means a large outbreak of H1N1 could deal a dangerous blow to the under 24-year-old group most likely to contract the virus.

Bevan Baker:
We are certainly concerned about asthma as one of the complications that influenza can impact in individuals with chronic conditions. And we know that more than 30,000 in Milwaukee County have asthma, most of them are children. We have to be concerned about that.

Frederica Freyberg:
What could that kind of virus mean potentially for your kids?

Ken Herring:
They would be very sick.

Frederica Freyberg:
Ken and Antoinette Herring have a 7 and 11-year-old with asthma.

Frederica Freyberg:
Do you worry about getting the flu? Yeah, why?

Boy:
‘Cause I’m scared.

Frederica Freyberg:
It might be hard to breathe then?

Antoinette Herring:
It's scary when they have, when they were having asthma attacks. So I would go to the emergency room a lot.

Frederica Freyberg:
But those ER trips are now a rarity. Because the Herring children have their asthma under control. That's thanks to help from a group called Fight Asthma Milwaukee Allies, or FAM Allies. Headed by Dr. Meurer.

John Meurer:
We do outreach education, nurses visit homes, we have health educators who provide group training to parents, children and schools, child care providers and gym teachers.

Frederica Freyberg:
FAM Allies educators taught the Herrings that household cleaning products triggered their children's asthma.

Tamika Glenn:
If you cleaned up during the day, in the nighttime you are in the ER because of the different chemicals they are taking in.

Frederica Freyberg:
Tamika Glenn has two kids of her own with asthma and also has learned about the triggers from the group.

Tamika Glenn:
I was making a lot of ER visits, and then it seemed like all of a sudden, one day, someone from FAM Allies showed up at my door, doing outreach work.

Tamika Glenn:
Yeah, so I’m out here now, trying to beat the streets and let people know the different things about the asthma we are not hearing anything about.

Frederica Freyberg:
Glenn was so grateful for the help in controlling her children’s asthma...

Tamika Glenn:
I'm the coordinator around here, and I’m with the Dominican Center.

Frederica Freyberg:
She took to the streets herself to fight asthma in Milwaukee and now is FAM Allies’ outreach coordinator. Literally a door to door health education effort.

Tamika Glenn:
Any help you need, feel free to call me anytime. All right, thanks for talking with me.

Frederica Freyberg:
Most of the children affected with asthma spend their days at school. Milwaukee schools are also part of the FAM Allies coalition.

Nurse:
Is your asthma bothering you? After recess? You didn't take your inhaler before?

Frederica Freyberg:
That's where school nurses come in with asthma control.

Nurse:
Do you feel wheezy or tight?
Frederica Freyberg:
A recent $1 million, five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control for Milwaukee schools is designed to help students manage their asthma.

Brett Fuller:
What we want to do is get them under control so they don't miss school.

Frederica Freyberg:
The grant goes toward ensuring good indoor air quality in schools and encouraging the use of asthma inhalers before running around at recess or gym class.

Brett Fuller:
Students say they cannot participate because the asthma is acting up and then we have the additional problem of obesity and asthma are strongly linked.

Nurse:
This is an opti chamber.

Frederica Freyberg:
The CDC also pays for these special chambers for the asthma inhalers. They allow the medicine to get into the lungs instead of just the back of the throat.

Nurse:
Let’s see what your temperature is today. Last week it was 101.3.

Frederica Freyberg:
Meanwhile, school nurses are ferreting out potential cases of H1N1, among a population in Milwaukee with high rates of asthma. Working their plan to prevent the spread.

Kathleen Murphy:
The take-home for parents is fever of 100 or greater and cough or sore throat, please keep the child at home.            

Frederica Freyberg:
So as a city that marked the highest number of H1N1 cases in the country last spring moves through the fall and winter...

John Meurer:
You can hear she has really congested upper airway.

Frederica Freyberg:
High numbers of people at risk for complications of the virus pay close attention to prevention, while waiting to be first in line for the H1N1 vaccine.

Patty Loew:
Experts say Milwaukee's asthma problems stem from higher rates of pollen and ragweed, bad air quality, smoking in the home, and inadequate primary care. To get more information about H1N1, including other reports, lectures and information from the Centers for Disease Control, go to wpt.org/H1N1. You can find all the answers on one page.