Parents are being urged to check for signs of asthma in their children, after a study showed that the potentially fatal disease is still being under-diagnosed in the region.

Dr Mohammad Shamssain's call for greater awareness of childhood asthma follows the tragic death of seven-year-old Sarah Smyth from Washington, Wearside two weeks ago.

Although Sarah's asthma had been diagnosed and she was under-going treatment, paramedics and doctors were unable to save her after a severe asthma attack at home. "Underdiagnosis is a significant problem in both children and adults.

This is mainly due to the patient," said Dr Shamssain, of Sunderland University.

"There needs to be better asthma education in schoolchildren and parents, which could help increase the reporting of symptoms to GPs," said Dr Shamssain, whose latest study of 3,000 13-14 year-olds in the North-East showed that one in four have had asthma.

Dr Shamssain says: "Our studies show that childhood asthma is still under-diagnosed and under-treated. A high proportion of parents are unaware of the presence of symptoms of asthma in their children, which contributes significantly to the problem of under-diagnosis.

"It is very important to diagnose asthma at an early stage.

Many parents do not report their children's symptoms early enough, making it difficult for physicians to diagnose.

"Early detection and treatment of asthma might improve the long-term effect of the condition and may also prevent irreversible loss of lung function," the lecturer added. Thousands of youngsters in the region have so far been analysed by Dr Shamssain and his research team as part of a world-wide study into the condition.

The first phase, which involved surveying 3,000 North-East children aged six and seven found that asthma and asthma-related symptoms were on the increase.

In phase two, Dr Shamssain investigated the frequency of self-reported symptoms of asthma among teenagers.

One in three reported wheezing and one in four complained of wheezing after exercise. Warning signs in children which could mean asthma include persistent wheezing and persistent coughing.

In the final part of his research the lecturer will be working with local GPs to look at ways of tackling the problems.

The Sunderland centre, which covers the North-East, was established in 1996. It is the only centre in the UK studying children aged six to seven years.

The research team needs funding to continue its work.