Abstract

BACKGROUND: The global epidemiology of asthma among COVID-19 patients presents striking geographic differences defining high and low [asthma and COVID-19] co-occurrence prevalence zones.OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare asthma prevalence among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in major global hubs across the world with the application of common inclusion criteria and definitions.METHODS: We built a network of six academic hospitals in Stanford (Stanford University)/USA, Frankfurt (Goethe University), Giessen (Justus Liebig University) and Marburg (Philipps University)/Germany, and Moscow (Clinical Hospital 52 in collaboration with Sechenov University)/Russia. We collected clinical and laboratory data for patients hospitalized due to COVID-19.RESULTS: Asthmatics were overrepresented among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Stanford and underrepresented in Moscow and Germany as compared to the prevalence among adults in the local community. Asthma prevalence was similar among ICU and hospital non-ICU patients, which implied that the risk for developing severe COVID-19 was not higher among asthmatics. The number of males and comorbidities was higher among COVID-19 patients in the Stanford cohort, and the most frequent comorbidities among these asthma patients were other chronic inflammatory airway disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).CONCLUSION: Observed disparity in COVID-19-associated risk among asthmatics across countries and continents is connected to varying prevalence of underlying comorbidities, particularly COPD.CLINICAL IMPLICATION: Public health policies in the future will need to consider comorbidities with an emphasis on COPD for prioritization of vaccination and preemptive treatment.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaci.2022.09.039

View details for PubMedID 36336123