Asthma not a big risk factor for severe COVID-19, new study shows

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In a new study, researchers found examined whether asthma is a big risk factor for developing COVID-19 that is severe enough to warrant hospitalization and intubation.

They found asthma may not a big risk factor for severe COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with asthma are at higher risk for hospitalization and other severe effects from COVID-19, similar to the elevated risk from such health conditions as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

However, many international studies show low numbers of asthmatics among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. These findings challenge the view of asthma as a risk factor.

In the study, the team compared the prevalence of asthma among patients hospitalized for COVID-19, as reported in 15 peer-reviewed studies, with that of the corresponding population’s asthma prevalence.

They also correlated the study’s asthma prevalence with the four-year average asthma prevalence in influenza hospitalizations in the United States.

In addition, they analyzed the medical records of 436 COVID-19 patients admitted to the University of Colorado Hospital to evaluate the likelihood that patients with asthma would be intubated more often than patients without asthma.

The researchers found that the proportion of asthmatics among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is relatively similar to that of each study site’s population asthma prevalence.

This finding is in stark contrast to influenza, in which asthmatics make up more than 20 percent of those hospitalized in the United States.

They also observed that among COVID-19 patients, those with asthma, which had a 12% prevalence rate, did not seem to be more likely to be intubated than non-asthmatics.

The researchers theorize that the corticosteroid inhalers many people with asthma use make it more difficult for coronaviruses to enter their airways.

Specifically, these people may have lower levels of expression of ACE2, a protein that binds to SARS-CoV-2, the virus caused by COVID-19.

People with asthma that is related to allergies may also have lower expression of ACE2, whether or not they use corticosteroids.

The team adds that the asthma-COVID-intubation risk link should be studied further.

One author of the study is Fernando Holguin, MD, MPH.

The study is published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

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