A child who has short spells of wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath happening twice a week or less has mild intermittent asthma. The child rarely has symptoms between these spells, with the exception of one or two times per month of mild symptoms at night. There are asthma management strategies to treat mild asthma. Symptoms occur at least twice a month at night and can affect normal physical activity. Moderate Persistent Asthma Children with moderate persistent asthma have daily symptoms and need daily medication.
Nighttime attacks happen more than once a week.
Wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath occur more than twice a week and may last for several days. The symptoms affect normal physical activity. Severe Persistent Asthma Children with severe persistent asthma have continuous symptoms. They have frequent wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath that may require emergency treatment and even hospitalization. Many children with severe persistent asthma have frequent asthma attacks at night and can handle only limited physical activity.