INPDEMO — MedRi DEMO

Asthma and Allergies in Children

Katedra za pedijatriju

Classes held in English

Lecturers

prof. dr. sc. Banac Srđan, dr. med. coordinator

The reason for holding this elective course is the fact that the prevalence of allergic diseases shows a disturbing increase in recent decades. The doctors meet allergic patients more and more often at all levels of health care. This mainly applies to the child population. Children suffer quite more often from hypersensitivity reactions than adults. Therefore, this elective course will additionally prepare and train students to know how to correctly approach such patients diagnostically and therapeutically. The content of the course includes presentation of the basics of clinical allergology, appropriate definitions and terminology. Students will learn about the epidemiological aspects of allergic diseases in children. They will learn what allergens are, what their characteristics are and which allergens are the most significant cause of allergic sensitization amongst children. Students will become familiar with the etiopathogenesis of allergic diseases and with the pattern of the so-called "allergic march" in children. Students will get to know and distinguish allergic from pseudoallergic reactions. They will learn the diagnostic approach to childhood asthma, including the differential diagnosis of asthma and asthmatic phenotypes in young children. They will learn the importance of performing and interpreting functional lung tests in children. A therapeutic approach to acute asthmatic attack will be presented practically. They will become familiar with the management of chronic asthmatic inflammation and with the inhalation method of drug administration. Students will learn more about atopic diseases associated to asthma such as allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. They will learn about the importance and assessment of the quality of life of children with chronic atopic diseases. They will learn more about the clinical presentation and therapeutic approach to acute spontaneous urticaria, Quincke's edema and anaphylaxis. They will become familiar with the problem of hypersensitivity reactions to food and drugs. Finally, the importance of implementing measures of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of allergic diseases will be highlighted.

Nelson Essential of Pediatrics, 9th Edition April 2022.

Banac S. et al. Rising trends in the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases among school children in the north-west coastal part of Croatia. Journal of Asthma. 2013; 50: 810-814.

Attendance at lectures, seminars, and practicals is mandatory, and records are kept separately for each student in the INP application of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka. All the mentioned forms of teaching start at the exact time indicated according to the given schedule, and lateness will be treated as an absence. Entrances/exits during classes are not taken into account. A student can be excused for missing up to 30% of the hours scheduled separately for practicals, seminars and lectures, solely for health reasons, which is justified by a doctor's excuse. If a student unjustifiably misses more than 30% of classes in a particular form of teaching (2 hours of lectures, 3 hours of seminars, 2 hours of exercises), he cannot continue following the course and loses the opportunity to take the final exam (0 ECTS points, grade F). Students are expected to actively participate in seminars and practicals. These are characterized by active learning methods and demonstration methods. Activity is also expected at the lectures, which are interactive, given that it is a small group of students. Supplementary literature is available to students. It is recommended to be read before the start of classes.

Students who have 30% or more unexcused absences from classes can not take the final exam. Such a student is graded F (insufficient). The final exam is in the form of a written exam - multiple choice test - consisting of 30 questions. The duration of writing the test is 45 minutes. The number of correctly answered questions is converted into grade points as follows:

No. of positive responses	<15	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Grade points	0	50	53	56	59	61	64	67	70	73	77	81	85	88	91	95	100

The final grade is carried out according to the table:

Total sum of grade points	Final grade
91-100	A	excellent (5)
77-88	B	very good (4)
61-73	C	good (3)
50-59	D	satisfactory (2)
<50	F	insufficient (1)

The elective course "Asthma and allergies in children" includes direct contact with students during lectures, seminars and practicals. The lectures will further deepen the knowledge about asthma and allergic diseases in children, the acquisition of which was already started as part of the compulsory course "Paediatrics", which the students took in the 5th year of the Study in medicine. Lectures are followed by seminars and practicals characterized by active methods of problem-oriented learning such as case reports and case-based learning. Demonstration methods are also represented. The whole course is held intensively in the block, for three days consecutively, in an authentic environment - the Veli Lošinj Health Resort - known for treating children with asthma and allergic diseases.

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This type of class is described in the syllabus, please contact the course coordinator for more details

Course

Asthma and Allergies in Children

Study programs

Year of study

ISVU ID

URL

ECTS

1.5

Lecturers

Details 2021/2022

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