Singulair helpful for kids with asthma and allergies

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The asthma controller Singulair
(generic name, montelukast) appears useful and economical for
the treatment of children with asthma and allergic rhinitis,
according to US researchers.

“Childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis frequently coexist
… and result in substantial costs for the family and the
health care system,” lead author Dr. Alan Luskin from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, told Reuters Health.

Rather than a steroid, montelukast is technically a
leukotriene receptor antagonist — that is, it blocks the
leukotriene component of the inflammatory process. The study
suggests that “montelukast is a cost-effective alternative to
inhaled corticosteroids as initial asthma therapy in these
children,” said Luskin.

The researcher and his colleagues at Merck & Co. Inc.,
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, conducted a study using a
pharmacy claims database of children under the age of 16 years.

All selected children had received two or more consecutive
asthma controller medications and one or more allergy
prescriptions within the following 12 months. The researchers
matched 618 children taking montelukast with 618 using inhaled
corticosteroids.

Comparison of monthly costs for acute asthma medication,
allergy medication and other respiratory medication after
initiating therapy, showed that costs for the montelukast
patients were significantly less than those for the
corticosteroid patients, the investigators report in the Annals
of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Cost increases in the montelukast group were also lower for
rescue medications and for other acute allergy medications
compared with costs in the corticosteroid group.

Montelukast patients also had fewer days on which they
required asthma rescue medication or allergy medication.

The researchers conclude that montelukast may provide
better asthma control than inhaled corticosteroids because it
reduced the “need for asthma rescue medications and also
reduced the need for acute asthma and allergy therapies.”

The study was supported by a grant from Merck and Co Inc.

SOURCE: Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, August
2005.