Each year, wildfires rage across the U.S. Smoke in the air contains tiny particles that affect air quality. These particles can irritate your eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Poor air quality can worsen asthma symptoms. Children and those with respiratory disease like asthma are at high risk for asthma episodes when the air quality is poor.

Wildfires do not only affect those in the immediate fire area. Smoke can blow many miles away and impact people hundreds of miles away.

Be Prepared to Evacuate

If you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, you may need to prepare to evacuate. You will need to manage your asthma and any other health conditions in the event of an emergency.

Have an emergency kit ready to go in case you need to leave your home quickly. Wear a mask with a particulate respirator. Look for NIOSH and N95 or P100 printed on the mask. It should have two straps and should cover your nose and chin. Carry your quick-relief asthma medicine with you wherever you go.

Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke

If you are in an area affected by wildfire smoke, take precautions to protect yourself and your family from the poor air quality. If you are "down wind" from active fires, it is important to watch your air quality.

• Check your local air quality at AirNow.gov. You can also sign up to receive air quality email notices for your ZIP code.
• Check current fire and smoke conditions at Fire.AirNow.gov.

Stay indoors as much as possible and reduce physical activity outside.

• Keep window and doors closed to help prevent polluted outside air from getting in. Keep children in rooms/areas with cleaner air.
• Avoid using anything that burns, such as wood fireplaces, gas logs, gas stoves and candles.
• Don't do things in your home that stirs up particles already inside your home.
• Run your air conditioner if you have one. Set the air intake to "recirculate" and keep the filter clean. If you don't have air conditioning, staying inside with the windows closed may become dangerous if the weather is extremely hot. Seek alternative shelter.
• If you must go outdoors, wear a mask with a particulate respirator. Look for NIOSH and N95 or P100 printed on the mask. It should have two straps and should cover your nose and chin.
• Follow your Asthma Action Plan.
  

Protect Yourself During Cleanup

Disasters generate debris that can include building rubble, trees and shrubs, personal property, ash and charred wood. Follow your community management guidelines for disposal. Learn more from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about handling debris.

Smoke and ash contain harmful particles that can irritate even healthy lungs.

• If you have to clean up ash on your property, wear a mask with a particulate respirator. Wash your clothes and shower as soon as possible after exposure.
• Keep children away from areas with ash until it has been cleaned.
• If your home has water damage, take steps to protect yourself from mold.
• Take steps to improve your indoor air quality as much as possible. Improve your home's indoor air quality by using CERTIFIED Asthma & Allergy Friendly® products, such as air filters, air cleaners, HVAC systems, vacuums, and more. To find out if a product meets our scientific standards to become CERTIFIED, look for this mark on the product's package or advertisements:
  
  

  

Updated January 8, 2025

Some major asthma inhaler manufacturers announced $35 a month caps on out-of-pocket costs. The price cap will apply to people with commercial/private insurance (through your job or federal or state marketplace) or no insurance. At some pharmacies, the savings will be automatic. If your pharmacy doesn’t participate in the automatic savings, you can use a savings card to get the discount.

If you have government-funded insurance (such as Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, or TRICARE), you won’t qualify for a price cap, but you may qualify for a patient assistance program that can reduce what you pay.

The inhalers that will be price capped include:

AstraZeneca (effective June 1, 2024):

• AIRSUPRA® (albuterol and budesonide) inhalation aerosol
• BEVESPI AEROSPHERE® (glycopyrrolate and formoterol fumarate) inhalation aerosol
• BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) inhalation aerosol
• SYMBICORT® (budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate) inhalation aerosol
  
  

Boehringer Ingelheim (effective June 1, 2024):

• Atrovent® HFA (ipratropium bromide HFA) inhalation aerosol
• Combivent® Respimat® (ipratropium bromide and albuterol) inhalation spray
• Spiriva® HandiHaler® (tiotropium bromide) inhalation powder
• Spiriva® Respimat® 1.25 mcg (tiotropium bromide) inhalation spray
• Spiriva® Respimat® 2.5 mcg (tiotropium bromide) inhalation spray
• Stiolto® Respimat® (tiotropium bromide and olodaterol) inhalation spray
• Striverdi® Respimat® (olodaterol) inhalation spray
  
  

GSK (Starting Jan. 1, 2025):

• Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder)
• Advair HFA (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation aerosol)
• Anoro Ellipta (umeclidinium and vilanterol inhalation powder)
• Arnuity Ellipta (fluticasone furoate inhalation powder)
• Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate and vilanterol inhalation powder)
• Incruse Ellipta (umeclidinium inhalation powder)
• Serevent Diskus (salmeterol xinafoate inhalation powder)
• Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium, and vilanterol inhalation powder)
• Ventolin HFA (albuterol sulfate inhalation aerosol)
  
  

Other Ways to Save on Asthma Medicine

For other ways to save on asthma medicine, see our guide, "What to Do If You Can't Afford Your Asthma Medicine," and the GoodRx Asthma Inhaler Savings Guide.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America focuses relentlessly on saving and improving the lives of people with asthma and allergies.

The dedication of our team, supporters, and community partners helped us achieve significant milestones this year. Your support transformed lives. From award-winning awareness and advocacy campaigns to life-changing support and education programs, some of our top accomplishments include:

Watch on YouTube

IMPROVING ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY TO ASTHMA AND ALLERGY CARE

The complex drug pricing ecosystem in the U.S. can block access to affordable asthma medicines – particularly for the people who need them most. With your support, we led a national conversation about the importance of access to affordable life-saving asthma medications. Our advocacy helped pave the way toward lower costs for essential asthma medicines when three major inhaler manufacturers announced $35-a-month price caps earlier this year.

AAFA’s leadership in this space earned recognition from the Biden Administration. We were the only asthma and allergy patient advocacy organization in attendance for a White House briefing on the high cost of asthma inhalers.

EMPOWERING PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA TO IMPROVE THEIR HEALTH THROUGH AAFA’S HEAL PROGRAM

Thanks to AAFA’s Health Equity Advancement and Leadership (HEAL) program, over 250 people are managing their asthma better. HEAL serves communities with the greatest asthma burden to provide:

• Asthma self-management resources
• Home assessments to identify asthma and allergy triggers
• And additional support services

One HEAL participant shares: “I would encourage anyone with asthma to get involved. The resources and community support have changed my life.”

Click to view larger image

PROVIDING TOOLS TO HELP PEOPLE TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR HEALTH

AAFA expanded educational programs and tools to increase understanding of asthma and allergies and how to manage these conditions. In 2024, AAFA launched a new podcast, aired several public service announcements, and expanded our educational programming:

1. The AAFAnoon Chats podcast discussed news, research, and other information to help our community manage asthma and allergies. So far, our four episodes have reached over 13,500 people.
2. AAFA effectively raised public awareness about asthma and allergic diseases through a series of public service announcements and outreach to the media.
   • Our national TV PSAs focused on asthma in childhood, pregnancy and asthma, and asthma peak month. Each of these PSAs reached 180 million households.
   • AAFA’s President and CEO Kenneth Mendez was featured on a radio and TV tour in September to raise awareness about “asthma peak month,” when many conditions combine to worsen asthma symptoms. The pieces were featured in 8 of the top 20 Asthma Capitals and reached 89 million people – four times the reach of our 2023 media tour.
3. AAFA offered several educational programs on asthma, food allergies, eosinophilic esophagitis, atopic dermatitis, chronic spontaneous urticaria, and nasal polyps. This means we can help more people than ever become knowledgeable on how to manage asthma and allergic diseases.
   • Over 6,000 people attended our educational programs for people who live with or manage these chronic conditions. 
   • Over 7,500 health care professionals attended our continuing education programs on treating asthma and allergic conditions. 
     
     

AAFA provided personalized support to help people in the everyday management of asthma and allergies by providing resources and support to over 55,000 people on our two online support communities. AAFA also responded to 1,228 inquiries submitted to AAFA’s Support Center and 268 questions submitted to AAFA’s Ask the Allergist service.

ELEVATING PATIENT VOICES IN RESEARCH

Throughout 2024, we strengthened connections between patients and groundbreaking research opportunities, ensuring their voices and needs remain central to innovation. In 2024, AAFA:

• Helped recruit for 23 different research studies and clinical trials
• Published 6 manuscripts in medical journals
• Presented 7 posters at medical conferences

AAFA released reports to help raise awareness on important topics that impact asthma and allergy management. Major publications included:

• 2024 Allergy Capitals report detailed the most challenging cities in the U.S. for living with allergies and provided insight into the factors impacting seasonal allergies. This report includes information on seasonal allergy management and suggests ways policymakers can work to improve public health. The 2024 report also calls attention to the urgency of the climate crisis, which is making allergy seasons longer and more intense.
  
  

• The Asthma Capitals report consistently delivers as one of our higher-performing reports. This report represents a key element of our broader Asthma Peak Month Awareness activities. Asthma Capitals-related media coverage had a potential viewership of 499 million views. 
• Life with Nasal Polyps report documents the patients' journey with nasal polyps and health care providers’ awareness of and practices around this rare but increasing condition.
  
  

EDUCATION ON INDOOR AIR QUALITY

AAFA supports clean, safe air for everyone and urges the adoption of strong standards and enforcement of these standards to reduce the emission of harmful air pollutants that impact climate change. In 2024, we advocated for reduced emissions from cars and trucks. We also pushed for better indoor air quality in schools where asthma is a top reason for student absenteeism.

Kenneth Mendez appeared on an episode of George to the Rescue, which educated families on indoor air quality and the importance of having a healthy living space, especially when you have asthma and allergies.

AAFA’s Certification Program provided essential expertise on indoor air quality and air filtration to leaders across the globe.

CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly® products donated to HEAL program participants included:

• Rabbit Air® donated 19 air cleaners
• Renegade donated 54 bottles of Sweat X Sport Free and Clear laundry detergent

Asthma symptoms and severity can vary from person to person, especially if you have mild to moderate asthma. John James, MD, board-certified allergist, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) presented information on mild to moderate asthma in our recent webinar.

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In the video, we talk about:

• What is mild to moderate asthma
• Asthma triggers
• Early warning signs and symptoms of asthma
• Asthma self-management and control
• Available treatment options
• How to work with your doctor to develop a treatment plan
  
  

Hear from the experts on identifying asthma symptoms, keeping your asthma under control, treatment options, and more. Watch now!

Related Resources

• Asthma facts
• Asthma triggers
• How to correctly use your asthma devices
• Eczema

Welcome to our December research update! Getting involved with research is an important way to impact asthma and allergy treatments, education, and awareness.

This month, we are highlighting clinical trials, surveys, and news on:

• Chronic hives triggered by sunlight (solar urticaria)
• The impacts of the changing inhaler market on people with chronic lung disease
• Long-term exposure to particulate matter and asthma
  
  

Note: The links below will take you to external websites.

Latest Asthma and Allergy News

Asthma

The Effects of Inhaler Market Changes on People with Chronic Lung Disease
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affect 545 million people worldwide and about 34 million people in the United States. People in the United States with these chronic lung conditions spend about $4,000 out-of-pocket each year.

A recent study found major challenges that people living with asthma and COPD face because of changes to the inhaler market. These challenges include:

• Rising medicine costs
• Discontinued branded medicines
• Lack of insurance coverage for generics
• Medicine shortages
  
  

Insurance policies also force non-medical switches in medicine or devices.

For health care providers, more administrative work, inhaler denials, and limits on prescribing suitable treatments create major challenges. These challenges can reduce patient trust and increase the burden of asthma and COPD care.

Asthma Visits are More Common After Flovent Discontinuation
Flovent, a prescription inhaled corticosteroid, was discontinued on Jan. 1, 2024. Before being discontinued, it was used for the long-term treatment of asthma in people aged 4 and older. After its discontinuation, people who used Flovent were directed to generic options. But people were concerned about insurance coverage and effectiveness.

To study the impact of Flovent’s discontinuation, researchers looked at emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions, and ICU stays for over 3 million people who were prescribed fluticasone propionate in the first (Q1) and second (Q2) quarters of 2024. Compared to the same periods in 2022 and 2023, asthma-related hospital admissions increased by 17.5% in Q1 and 24.1% in Q2. ICU admissions rose 17.4% in Q1 and 21.3% in Q2. ED visits saw smaller increases, up 6.5% in Q1 and 3.6% in Q2.

These findings suggest that the discontinuation of Flovent may have contributed to higher rates of severe asthma episodes. This highlights challenges people face with medicine transitions. But more research is needed to understand the long-term impacts of the discontinuation.

The Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution on Asthma
Asthma affects over 250 million people worldwide. Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a major risk factor. Particulate matter is usually found in polluted air. A recent study combined data from reviews and analyses to look at the impact of particulate matter exposure on asthma risk. In this study, risk was defined by the number of total asthma cases, new asthma cases, and asthma deaths.

The review found that asthma risk rises by 21.4% in children and 7.1% in adults for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter of an increase in particulate matter. The researchers also believe that in 2019 nearly 1/3 of global asthma cases were linked to particulate matter exposure.

These findings highlight the major role of air pollution in asthma prevalence and stress the need for stronger efforts to reduce particulate matter levels worldwide.