Allergic asthma, from risk factor to 'protective' anti covid

• Research: Asthmatics are not a population at risk for Covid-19

• Live. News about coronavirus

They neither have more Covid nor are they more vulnerable to this disease.

Quite the opposite.

According to a Spanish study, people with allergic-type asthma are suffering less coronavirus.

Specifically, only 3.2% of patients seriously hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 had asthma, a lower prevalence than in the general population, which is around 6%.

If at the beginning of the pandemic "we thought that those affected by respiratory diseases would be at high risk" and this was assumed in the first public health recommendations, "

", explains the pulmonologist Xavier Muñoz, principal investigator of the group of Pulmonology of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and member of the Ciber Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES).

It was then when reviewing the first publications, from China, Korea and New York, they did not reflect a greater casuistry in asthmatics either.

From there, several studies have pointed along the same lines and on this occasion, the Spanish work, which has just been published in the ERJ Open Research journal, not only confirms the idea but goes a little further, with the aim of determine what type of asthmatic could be a little more protected.

The research was carried out with

with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia from March 1 to June 30.

Data were collected on the phenotype, severity, treatment they followed for asthma, and severity of Covid-19, which was assessed based on oxygen needs, ventilatory support, and chest X-ray findings.

Thus, they were able to verify that of the four different phenotypes analyzed, the one that seems to be more protected is that of those with allergic asthma, "which represents 70% -80% of the cases in children and around 50% among adult asthmatics" , explains the pulmonologist.

This means that "they are less likely to be infected and if they are, the disease may be less serious," concludes Muñoz, which does not mean that "they do not have to protect themselves or lower their guard, because they can become seriously ill. That they have less risk does not mean that it cannot happen ".

¿

?

Among the hypotheses, it is proposed that "cells of people with asthma express to a lesser extent a receptor that is mostly involved in the entry of the virus into cells."

The fewer receptors, the less likely to develop Covid.

It could also happen that "the inflammation that occurs in asthma competes in some way with the inflammation generated by the virus and this competition causes the effect of SARS-CoV-2 to be greatly reduced."

Precisely this hypothesis is at the center of the research of the group of experts in Pneumology at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).

"We want to see if the inflammation competition allows us to draw a conclusion that could help in the study of a drug for Covid in the general population", clarifies the researcher.

There is also a

.

In this sense, argues Xavier Muñoz, several Spanish and other hospitals have come together to launch a clinical trial coordinated by the

"to administer this inhaler to patients admitted with Covid and to see if those who enter it receive develop a less severe form of the disease. "

We will have to wait for the results of this work, but in the meantime, and according to the VHIR study, everything seems to indicate that asthma is not a risk factor for the development of Covid-19, at least in hospitalized patients with more forms of infection. serious.

Does this mean that it could be a protective factor?

The study reveals that "only 3.2% of hospitalized patients with severe disease had asthma, a lower prevalence than that of the general population in our geographical area, which is around 6% [...] If we also take into account that 54 (76%) of the 71 affected patients had comorbidities that have been shown to be directly related to the involvement of SARS-CoV-2,

" , says María Jesús Cruz, head of the VHIR Pneumology group.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Science and Health

• Coronavirus

• Covid 19

• China

The AECC and Unidad Editorial, together in the fight against cancer

HealthEngland prepares to vaccinate 1.2 million people a week from December

An inhaled drug could improve the recovery of hospitalized Covid patients

See links of interest

• News

• Translator

• Programming

• Films

• Topics

• 2021 business calendar

• Coronavirus

• Burnley - Crystal Palace

• Athletic Club - Real Betis

• Albacete - Almeria

• Wolverhampton Wanderers - Southampton