Children with recurrent cough, cold and wheeze should visit their physician as these are clear symptoms that the child may be suffering from asthma, a medical expert said here Tuesday.

He said that in many of the cases the asthma symptoms improve with age as the wind pipe of children grows till the age of five years, a development that makes the asthma symptoms recede.

"However, if the child continues to have recurrent symptoms till the age of 12-14 years, it is a reason to worry for the parents and the child needs serious medication for asthma," said S.K. Kabra, a senior paediatrician at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He was delivering a public lecture on "Asthma among children" here at AIIMS.

According to AIIMS, about 120-150 children with asthma are seen every week at the paediatrics out-patient department (OPD).

Kabra said that in many of the cases the parents go for an allergy test after observing the symptoms of asthma in their children. However, it is to be understood that even the allergy test is not very effective and rather the pulmonary function test should be performed.

"Parents need to understand that if they are asthmatic, their children are also prone to suffer from asthma," added Kabra.

He also said that passive smoking, where the smoke of cigarettes, bidis and hookah is inhaled by the non-smoker, is a major cause of asthma.

"Dust present on carpets, wall hangings, air conditioners, mosquito sprays, perfumes, body deodorants and pollens should also be avoided by asthmatic children as they can be effective in prevention of exacerbation of asthma," Kabra said.