- This paper details the interactions f asthma and COVID-19 in the United States
- Due to limited data, it is difficult to pinpoint whether asthma puts someone at an increased risk for COVID-19 infection
- This study looks to determine the prevalence of asthma and asthma related comorbidities and COVID-19 as well as generally evaluate the hospitalization rates of COVID-19 patients with and without asthma
- Though most of the data for this study was able to be automated, to confirm asthma diagnoses in COVID-19 patients, all automatically flagged asthma charts in the database were manually checked as well
- It was generally found that out of the 1526 patients whose criteria met study guidelines, 14.4% (220) had asthma
- The prime demographic for asthma and COVID-19 was the 40-69 year old group (55.3%), and the predominant sub group of this was patients who claimed to be non-Hispanic African American (35.5%)
- Platelet count in non-asthmatic patients was significantly lower than those with asthma
- Lab values taken during the study indicate that patients with asthma and COVID-19 had significantly lower levels of ferritin, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase

Prevalence and characterization of asthma in hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19 (United States)

Ohio State University, Columbus

- Asthma prolongs intubation in COVID-19
- Asthma in COVID-19 Patients by Geographical Location
- Changes in medication adherence among patients with asthma and COPD during the COVID-19 pandemic

Asthma as a Comorbidity of COVID-19

- This study looked at comparing intubations times for COVID-19 patients with and without asthma
- All patients data was gathered via EMR from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago Illinois
- It was found that approximately 26% patients that tested positive and were a part of this study had asthma
- Ultimately, it was found that patients with asthma had longer intubation times than those without (10.17 ± 6.91 with asthma, and 5.29 ± 5.98 without)
- Additionally, it was found that younger patients with asthma (<65 years old) had significantly longer intubation periods compared to those with asthma
- It was also seen that patients with asthma tended to have longer hospitalizations than those without, particularly the 50 – 64 age group where asthma patients stayed in the hospital 2 days longer than those without


Asthma prolongs intubation in COVID-19

Asthma in COVID-19 Patients by Geographical Location

- This paper details the importance for those who are currently on medication for their asthma, to continue their treatment regimen
- It is mentioned that those with asthma who continue their daily medication are linked to better outcomes if they contract COVID-19
- Researchers looked at data from an ethical review database to determine the rate of adherence of patients to their asthma treatment regimen since the beginning of 2020 to March 25th and found that there was a 14.5% increase in adherence to treatment (Figure 1)
-  The median age range of this analysis was 40.0 years of age, however the results remained similar when the range was adjusted for age and the amount on individuals reviewed was 7578 people
- While this study reviews data taken from an ethical review database, this data may not entirely be accurate to everyone

Changes in medication adherence among patients with asthma and COPD during the COVID-19 pandemic

- This paper details the hypothesis that asthma may act as a protective comorbidity against the infection of COVID-19
- In asthmatics, there is high level of Th2 cells already present near the lungs to assist with lowering the severity of eosinophilic inflammation brought on upon by asthma
- The presence of these cells could assist with the mediation of immune system responses brought on by COVID-19 including hyperactive I IFN expression
- IFN also plays a large role in COVID-19 immune response as it signals for many downstream effects, including cytokine storm syndrome 
- Since cytokine storm syndrome has been directly linked to more severe COVID-19 cases with worse outcomes, the suppression of hyper IFN expression allows for asthmatics to see lower risk COVID-19 cases or even immunity to the virus all together, further illustrated in Figure 2

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