MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Children are suffering from more severe and life-threatening asthma attacks in Memphis than in most other cities.

In fact, Shelby County has the highest rates of pediatric hospitalizations for asthma in Tennessee.

That’s why Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital is participating in the Changing High-Risk Asthma in Memphis or the CHAMPS partnership.

As part of the program, a team of health experts can go into a patient’s home and educate them about the disease as well as show them how to use medication properly.

“I was diagnosed when I think I was ten,” 13-year-old Jinerva Wallis, an asthma sufferer, said.

Wallis uses an inhaler daily and takes regular allergy shots to control her asthma. Before her diagnosis, her symptoms often made it difficult for her to go outside.

“I’d have to stay inside a lot of times in the summer and spring,” she said.

Wallis is not alone.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 8.5 percent of children in the state have asthma.

That’s higher than the national average of 6.5 percent.

In Shelby County, more kids visit the emergency room and are hospitalized for severe symptoms than in any other county in Tennessee.

“Morbidity and mortality from asthma in Shelby County is a huge problem,” Dr. Christie Michael, an allergy and immunology associate professor at UTHSC said.

That’s why through the CHAMP program, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital is working to identify triggers and who is most at risk.

“I think the fact that two times more children are admitted who are below the poverty level suggests that there are some health disparities other than just human nature,” Dr. Michael said.

Health experts say children who live in areas with poor environmental and health conditions often develop more severe cases of asthma. 

“A lot of our patients rent. And so if there’s a problem with pests, for example, or they don’t really have control over the dust burden,” Dr. Michael said.

Dr. Michael said the goal is to reduce deaths and hospitalizations, and to give children who suffer from asthma a better quality of life.

“Asthma is something that we can get under control and that if they’re on the proper regimen, that they can do the things that they want to do,” she said.

As well as in-home visits, Dr. Michael said they can also coordinate transportation for families to make it to their appointments.

You can find more about the CHAMP program here.