Salmeterol (Serevent) is intended as a maintenance medication to prevent asthma attacks, and is not to be used to treat an acute attack. Salmeterol should never be used more than twice a day and should only be prescribed for patients who can be relied on to use it properly. It is a slow, long acting drug and can accumulate in the body to toxic levels if used frequently to treat an acute attack; for which the traditional shorter acting drugs such as albuterol should be used. Inhaled steroids continue to have a place as a preventive therapy.
(Bone, R.C. J Am Med Assn 273:967, 3/22-29/95)
COMMENT : Here is another example of why school nurses need to know what medicines their students are taking. There have been about 20 deaths reported from the misuse of this aerosol medication.