(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Children 2 to 14 years old with intermittent asthma fare well on a common drug used to treat more serious forms of asthma.

Intermittent asthma is diagnosed when a child (or adult) has brief episodes of wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath no more than twice a week. According to researchers, it is the most common type of asthma in children.

Researchers from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, studied 202 children with intermittent asthma to determine if the drug montelukast could help. Montelukast, marketed as Singulair in the United States, is commonly used for persistent asthma to prevent asthma flare-ups from occurring. The oral medication reduces the swelling and inflammation of airways. It does so by relaxing the walls of the bronchial tubes to allow more air to get into the lungs.

Results of the study reveal kids who received montelukast had fewer unscheduled trips to the doctor and missed fewer days of school than kids who received a placebo. The parents of kids receiving the drug also took fewer days off work to care for their children. After one year, children who received montelukast had 163 unscheduled trips to the doctor for their asthma, while those on placebo had 228 unscheduled visits.

Colin F. Robertson, M.D., from the Royal Children's Hospital, reports, "Symptoms were reduced by 14 percent, nights awakened by 8.6 percent, days off from school or childcare by 37 percent and parent time off from work by 33 percent.

A key component of the study was the impact of asthma on the family, as measured by days absent from school or childcare, nights of disturbed sleep, and the number of parent days lost from work."

Researchers designed the study so parents would initiate therapy on an "as needed" basis. Dr. Robertson reports, "The strategy of parent-initiated therapy required children on average to take the study drug only 30 days per year, rather than 365, providing a further cost-benefit for the family."

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, 9 million children younger than 18 have been diagnosed with asthma in the United States.

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2007;175:323-329