RESULTS
From January 2005 to December 2018, a total of ten deaths were
identified from all sources. Upon further chart review, two deaths
identified from the BCCH database that had asthma listed as a
pre-admission comorbidity were not included as asthma was not the cause
of death. The pediatric population at the midpoint of this time period
was 938 628, leading to an estimated 0.07 deaths per 100 000 children
per year. Deaths occurred in spring 38%, fall 25%, summer 22% and
winter 13%.
There were an equal number of male and female children and the median
age at death was 11 years of age (range 7-18 years). The most
predominant ethnicity was Southeast and East Asian, followed by
Caucasian and then First Nations.
All patients had at least one risk factor for severe asthma
exacerbations (Table 1).