By Kelly Young
NEJM Journal Watch
Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD
Asthma doesn’t seem to be a major risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalization or intubation, suggests a study in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Researchers analyzed 15 studies of patients hospitalized for COVID-19. They found that the prevalence of asthma was similar between hospitalized COVID-19 patients and the general population at each study site.
Separately, among over 300 people admitted with COVID-19 at a Colorado hospital, intubation rates were similar between those with asthma and those without.
The authors speculate that users of corticosteroid inhalers may have lower levels of ACE2 expression, which could make it more difficult for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the airway.
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