In a study published in the June 2020 edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, authors Chibba et al assess the prevalence of asthma in hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19 through reviewing over 1,500 patient charts across 10 hospitals. Of 1,526 patients identified with COVID-19, 220 (14%) were classified as having asthma. Asthma was not associated with an increased risk of hospitalization after adjusting for age, sex, gender, and comorbidities. The ongoing use of inhaled coricosteroids did not increase the risk of hospitalization either. Anju T. Peters, MD, MSCI, FAAAAI, one of the study authors stated, “We would usually expect for asthmatic patients to have worse outcomes, as viral illness often can set off asthma exacerbations. More studies must be done to look at the underlying immune modulation caused by asthma or asthma treatment to see what impact it may have on COVID-19 outcomes.”
