COVID-19 worsens asthma patients and increases mortality rate

[메디컬투데이=이재혁 기자] It was found that adult asthma patients have a more than 50% increased chance of their existing asthma disease becoming severe after recovering from COVID-19, and a more than 70% increased chance of dying.

In addition, results showed that in patients recovering from severe COVID-19, the probability of worsening to severe asthma was more than 5 times higher and the probability of death was more than 7 times higher than in patients recovering from mild COVID-19.

The research team of Professors Sang-heon Kim, Hyun Lee, and Bo-geun Kim of the Department of Respiratory Allergy at Hanyang University Hospital made this statement in a paper titled ‘Long-term effects of COVID-19 on severe exacerbation and mortality of adult asthma: A nationwide population-based cohort study.’

In this paper, Professor Kim’s team studied the risk of adult asthma patients who recovered from COVID-19 infection worsening into severe asthma or dying. The research team used National Health Insurance Corporation big data to match 10,739 adult asthma patients aged 20 or older who recovered from COVID-19 from October to December 2020 with a non-COVID-19 control patient group in a 1:1 manner.

As a result of the study, among adult asthma patients, the number of patients who worsened to severe asthma after recovering from COVID-19 was 187.3 cases per 10,000, which was 1.57 times higher than the 119.3 cases in the control group. The mortality rate was 128.3 per 10,000 in the group of patients who recovered from COVID-19, compared to 73.5 cases per 10,000 in the control group. This figure is 1.76 times higher than that.

In addition, among adult asthma patients, the risk of severe exacerbation was confirmed to be 5.12 times higher and the risk of death 7.31 times higher in the group of patients classified as severe from COVID-19 and recovered compared to the group of patients who recovered from mild COVID-19.

Regarding this study, Professor Kim Sang-heon said, “According to recent studies, patients with respiratory comorbidities, including asthma, have been found to have a high risk of complications and worsening of existing diseases after recovery from COVID-19.” He added, “In this study, adult asthma patients “It has been confirmed that the probability of deterioration or death after recovery from COVID-19 is high, and that careful and thorough follow-up is necessary, especially for patients recovering from severe COVID-19,” he explained.

He continued, “I hope that clinicians who treat asthma will make great efforts to prevent asthma patients who are not infected with COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, the paper was published in the online edition of the renowned international journal ‘The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Practice’ (citation index 9.4) in March.

Medical Today Video Editing Team ([email protected])

[저작권자ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]