Evaluation of the Frequency of Asthma Attack and Disease Severity in Children in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: As with any lower respiratory tract infection, it is thought that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may trigger asthma attacks, and the infection may be more severe in patients with asthma. The objective of this study was to establish the incidence of COVID-19 in children with asthma and to assess the disease severity in this patient group. Material and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who were admitted to the pediatric emergency clinic at our hospital between March and December 2020 with asthma attacks. The patients underwent a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test to diagnose COVID-19. Results: The study involved 155 patients, with 85 (54.8%) being male and the median age (IQR) was 122.0 (66.0- 163.0) months. The most common symptoms presented by these patients were cough (70.3%), fever (39.4%), and dyspnea (29.7%). Within the patients who required hospitalisation, 18 (81.8%) were diagnosed with moderate attack and 4 (18.2%) with severe attack (p< 0.001). Of the patients who were hospitalised, 10 (45.5%) were partially controlled and 8 (36.4%) were uncontrolled with respect to their medical condition (p<0.001). In the study, COVID-19 was detected in 22 (14.2%) out of 155 patients. According to the diagnosis of COVID-19, there was no difference in the severity of attacks or the requirement for ward hospitalization (p=0.633, p=0.288, respectively). Conclusion: COVID-19 infection does not increase the severity of asthma attacks or the need for hospitalization in children. This information is particularly important in the context of pediatric emergency care for asthma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.