Scientists from Imperial College London and elsewhere found that children and adults with asthma that is severe or poorly controlled are at greater risk of hospitalization with COVID-19.
They also found that children and adults with mild or well-controlled asthma are not at an increased risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19.
The research is published in the journal Thorax and was conducted by Professor Jennifer Quint et al.
Asthma is a long-term condition that usually requires ongoing treatment. It affects millions of people in the UK alone.
Since the pandemic began, there have been several studies looking at the risks of COVID-19 for people with asthma, but the findings have not always been clear or consistent.
The study is the biggest of its kind to examine the relationship between asthma and COVID-19 and it includes data on almost 80% of adults and more than 75% of 12- to 17-year-olds in England.
In the study, the team used found that adults who were prescribed a low-dose steroid inhaler for asthma were no more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 than people who do not have asthma.
However, adults who were taking a medium- or high-dose steroid inhaler were around 50% more likely to need hospital treatment for COVID-19, compared to people without asthma.
They were also more likely to die of COVID-19.
Among children aged 12–17, the risk of needing hospital treatment for COVID-19 was more than doubled in those who had been prescribed a course of oral steroids for asthma.
The risk was three to four times higher for children who had been prescribed two or more courses of oral steroids.
The team says that in children and adults with asthma that is mild or well-controlled with low-dose medication there is no greater risk than in people without asthma.
But adults and children with severe or poorly controlled asthma are more likely to need hospital treatment, and in adults there is an increased risk of COVID-19-related death.
Understanding these differences will be important to help people with asthma while COVID-19 persists around the world.
Adults can take precautions such as getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and taking their asthma treatment. For children, the risk is still relatively low, but their asthma should be managed as well as possible.
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