Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to raise awareness of bronchiolitis among parents with very young children.

Bronchiolitis is a common lower respiratory tract infection that most commonly affects babies and young children under a year old. Most cases are mild and improve without specific treatment within about two weeks, although some children have severe symptoms and need treatment in hospital.

Information for parents on bronchiolitis, including the symptoms, causes and potential treatments for the condition, is provided by the NHS Choices website at the following link:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bronchiolitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

In addition, the British Lung Foundation has produced a free leaflet on bronchiolitis in babies for parents:

www.blf.org.uk/Publication/Detail/Bronchiolitis-and-your-baby

and for clinicians the Clinical Knowledge Summary Service run by National Institute for Health & Care Excellence contains easily accessible information about the usual causes of acute chest signs in children and their management:

http://cks.nice.org.uk/cough-acute-with-chest-signs-in-children