The following is a summary of “Differences in Mortality Among Patients With Asthma and COPD Hospitalized With COVID-19,” published in the November 2023 issue of Allergy & Immunology by Liu et al.

It was not clear if people with asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) are more likely to get serious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Compare how COVID-19 patients with asthma, COPD, and no lung disease did while they were in the hospital. A group study looked at 8,395 people treated with COVID-19 between March 2020 and April 2021. International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision numbers were used to describe airway diseases. 

Scores on the sequence organ failure assessment (SOFA) and death rates were compared between groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine clinical factors that might have caused the death. The average SOFA score for people who didn’t have lung disease was 0.32, and 11% of them died. People with asthma, on the other hand, had lower SOFA scores (median 0.15; P <.01) and a lower risk of death, even when age, diabetes, and other factors were taken into account (odds ratio 0.65; P =.01). Patients with COPD had higher SOFA scores (median 0.86; P <.01) and higher chances of dying (odds ratio 1.40; P <.01). 

A blood eosinophil count of 200 cells/εL or higher, a sign of type 2 inflammation, was linked to a lower risk of death in all groups. Importantly, asthma patients did better even when eosinophilia was taken into account. This showed that asthma without eosinophilia was also linked to safety. The intensity of COVID-19 was higher in people with COPD and lower in people with asthma, eosinophilia, and noneosinophilic asthma, even when other clinical factors were taken into account. The results showed that the severity of COVID-19 may be affected by immune system factors that are already present in people who have lung diseases, like type 2 inflammation.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219823007778