Singulair helpful for kids with asthma, allergies
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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,” said lead author Dr. Alan Luskin from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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 ($5.55) were significantly less than those for the corticosteroid patients ($12.08), the investigators report in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Cost increases in the montelukast group were also lower for rescue medications ($0.94 versus $3.82) and for other acute allergy medications ($5.29 versus $10.06) 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.
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