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Editorial
Treating asthma in the COVID-19 pandemic
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  • Published on: 18 June 2020
    Asthmatic children are less susceptible to Covid-19?
    • Chandra Sekhar Devulapalli, Senior Medical Advisor and Consultant Paediatrician Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), Work and Benefits Kristiania, Oslo, Norway.

    Dear Editor,
    I read with interest Editorial by Wang et al. (1) regarding treatment of asthma in Covid-19 pandemic. It has been reported that allergic diseases, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were not risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection as shown in an earlier report from China (2). On the other hand, early data from Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US suggest a higher rate of asthma in patients hospitalized for severe Covid-19 illness (3). On this background, patients with severe and uncontrolled asthma have also been included to be at increased risk of developing more severe Covid-19 according to CDC (3). It is however unclear whether increased risk is also relevant to the paediatric age group.
    I agree with the authors that asthma control on a population scale may have improved due to reduced pollution, the use of face masks, better medication adherence and reduced smoking. However, these factors are of lesser importance in the paediatric age group. There is variability in the use of facial masks in different countries. It is most probably that lesser severe illness of Covid-19 in children due to the disease (asthma and respiratory allergy) itself that is offering some kind of protection. That protection seems to more than that being offered by adherence to medical treatment alone. Results from a recent cohort study indicate that children with asthma and allergies have reduced angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) gen...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.