210-358-KIDS
Pediatric Lung & Breathing Care
Helping Your Child Breathe Easier

Cystic Fibrosis in Children

Turn to University Children’s Health for compassionate cystic fibrosis care. Your family has direct access to some of San Antonio’s top cystic fibrosis experts. Look forward to excellent treatment, support and education that help your child enjoy a healthier life.

Recognized for High-Quality Cystic Fibrosis Care

University Children’s Health holds accreditation from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Your child’s doctors follow guidelines based on the latest research in:

Your Child's Cystic Fibrosis Care Team

Cystic fibrosis affects your family in many ways, so University Children’s Health takes a team approach to care. You and your child benefit from:

  • Pediatric pulmonologist – Makes a treatment plan that’s tailored to your child and based on the best medical evidence
  • Nurse – Guides you through care and answers your questions
  • Dietitian – Works with you to help your child grow and maintain a healthy weight
  • Respiratory therapist – Performs lung function tests and teaches you how to use appropriate equipment to give your child lung medications and help to remove secretions from their lungs.  
  • Social worker – Helps your family navigate health insurance coverage, find financial assistance, get support for your child’s education and cope with the impact of cystic fibrosis
  • Pediatric endocrinologist – Treats diabetes, a condition that’s common in children with cystic fibrosis

Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis

  • Salty-tasting skin
  • Persistent coughing
  • Repeated ear, sinus and lung infections
  • Lung infections, wheezing or shortness of breath
  • Poor growth and weight gain
  • Greasy, bulky stools or difficulty moving bowels

Cystic Fibrosis Treatments & Therapies

Our team can perform sweat testing on babies with an abnormal newborn screen for cystic fibrosis. If the sweat test is abnormal, they will work with your pediatrician to initiate appropriate care.

Your child will feel better and breathe easier with:

  • Medications and equipment that thin mucus, and help to clear it from their lungs.
  • Special vitamins and pancreatic enzymes that help your child’s body absorb nutrients and gain a healthy amount of weight
  • Treatments to decrease lung bacteria and infections

We will work with your family and the child’s school to make sure that the appropriate accommodations are being made for your child.

Our team will work with your child as they get older to help them to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to manage their disease as an adult.

Visit Us Often

Regular visits to University Children’s Health can help your child stay as well as possible. Frequent lung tests catch problems early when treatment works best.

We will review the treatment plan during each visit and adjust it if needed to provide the right care at the right time. We’ll get to know your family, so we can serve as your long-term partners and advocates in health.

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