1.5m schooldays lost to asthma every year

More than 1.5 million school days are missed every year by children with asthma, it has emerged.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children in Ireland — one in five have the respiratory condition which causes them to miss around 10 school days every year.

The Asthma Society Ireland held its first Bubble Day yesterday to raise funds for a network of support groups throughout the country for parents and carers of the 185,143 children with the disease.