Deaths from asthma in children less than 15 years of age in the USA increased from 63 in 1979 to 111 in 1983 and then decreased slightly to 106 in 1984. Rates of death from asthma have been higher among boys than girls, probably due to higher prevalence of asthma among boys. Increases in rates of death from asthma have occurred in most age groups because of much higher rates of death and greater increases in rates of death among blacks than whites. Prevalence of asthma is not sufficiently greater among blacks to account for rates of death 3 to 5 times as great as those for white children. Increases in deaths due to asthma have occurred in 47 states, and deaths have occurred in metropolitan children of both races in approximate proportion to their distribution to metropolitan areas. At least 46% of deaths from asthma in children and adolescents less than 20 years of age have occurred at hospitals. Reviews of deaths from asthma have implicated delays in implementation of appropriate therapy, including adrenal corticosteroids, psychosocial dysfunction that has interfered with compliance with recommended management, and underestimation of the seriousness of airway obstruction. Some deaths have been sudden and unavoidable.