BAHRAINI SCHOOL TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE OF ASTHMA
The teachers' most common knowledge of asthma are shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing (82% responded correctly). Only 66.5 percent knew that wheezing after physical exertion is a strong indicator of asthma in comparison to 57 percent of Danish teachers [16]. A large proportion of teachers also had wrong information about the signs, symptoms and complications of asthma. For example, teachers thought the following are related directly to asthma:

* 45.3 percent thought that one of the major symptoms of asthma is
   diarrhoea 
* 46.7 percent thought that it could lead to a sore throat
* 17.1 percent thought that asthma would lead to excessive sleep.

Asthmatic students of such teachers who not only lack knowledge but have wrong concepts may be at greater risk than those who are under the care of teachers who completely lack asthma knowledge: Significantly more single teachers and more women teachers were aware of asthma than married and male teachers. Married teachers with a smaller family size (one to three children) had better knowledge than those with a larger family. Other variables such as teachers' demographic characteristics, duration of occupation and type of school did not influence the teachers' knowledge of asthma.
The Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Bahrain recently enforced a regulation not to employ any teacher unless they have either a university degree or a diploma in education. As the results of the study indicate, younger teachers with shorter durations of occupation and having a small family size are better informed about asthma than the others. It is expected that such findings are characteristics of teachers with a higher education. These findings suggest that teachers' education plays a role in improving their asthma knowledge, although direct comparisons between levels of education and knowledge were not significantly related. Usually educational programs demonstrate that they have an important role in the management of asthmatic patients. In patients with asthma, better results can be obtained with an intensive group asthma education program than with the individual and a simplified program [18]. School teachers' involvement is therefore vital in such programs.

Conclusion
Nowadays, health care reform efforts are focusing on interdisciplinary, comprehensive approaches to health care delivery. Reports have highlighted the importance of school health education for improving the health of society [11]. There is a need to provide school teachers with specific education on asthma and its management [5,15]. Effective school-based education must be comprehensive, continuous and interdisciplinary, and must offer information, motivation and skills. There is a need for the implementation of asthma education programs in schools in order to improve asthma management for adolescents and the students [1].

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thanks to Professor Jonathan H. Skerman for his support in revising and editing the manuscript.

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