Asthma and allergic diseases are not risk factors for hospitalization in children with COVID-19

Beken, Burcin; Ozturk, Gokcen Kartal; Aygun, Fatma Deniz; Aydogmus, Cigdem; Akar, Himmet Haluk

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 emerged as a pandemic toward the end of 2019, causing large numbers of people to become infected and die. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether allergic diseases are a risk factor for hospitalization in COVID-19. METHODS: We conducted a study including 107 pediatric patients after COVID-19 recovery. ISAAC Phase 3 questionnaires were distributed together with a detailed history of environmental factors and an allergic evaluation including skin prick tests, specific IgE tests, and spirometry. We investigated the prevalence of allergic diseases and evaluated the factors associated with hospitalization in COVID-19. RESULTS: Sixty-one (57%) patients were hospitalized and 46 (43%) patients were followed closely in the outpatient clinic. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR ), recurrent wheezing, atopic dermatitis (AD), and asthma was 10.3%, 5.5%, 4.7%, and 3.7%, respectively, within the whole study population. While having asthma ± AR, AD, and passive tobacco exposure were not found to be related to hospitalization due to COVID-19, having a pet at home was found to be decreased risk of hospitalization (OR: 0.191, 95% CI: 0.047-0.779, p = 0.021). Spirometry tests revealed a higher FEV1/FVC ratio and a PEF reversibility in hospitalized patients compared to nonhospitalized ones (p = 0.023 and p = 0.003, respectively). CONCLUSION: Asthma and allergic diseases do not appear to be risk factors for hospitalization due to COVID-19 in children, and having a pet at home can be a protective effect. Pulmonary function testing seems to be important for monitoring lung damage following COVID-19.