Do allergic disorders increase the risk of susceptibility to, and severity of, COVID-19?

Published: August 15, 2020

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), that emerged in Wuhan City, China, has resulted in a rapidly spreading outbreak worldwide. Chronic allergic disease is associated with tissue remodeling and persistent inflammation that might increase susceptibility to infection. However, there is inconclusive and controversial evidence on the association between allergic disorders and the risk of susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19.

In an original article recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), Yang and colleagues examined the question of the risk of susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 in patients with allergic disorders in the Korean nationwide cohort (n = 219,959), and the difference of clinical outcomes of COVID-19 by allergic diseases among patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (n = 7340).

Yang and colleagues found that patients with asthma or allergic rhinitis had an increased likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 test positivity and worse clinical outcomes. Interestingly, patients with non-allergic asthma had a greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 test positivity and worse clinical outcomes of COVID-19 than patients with allergic asthma.

In summary, the authors suggest that clinicians should be aware of the greater risk of susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19 conferred by allergic rhinitis and asthma, especially non-allergic asthma, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) is an official scientific journal of the AAAAI, and is the most-cited journal in the field of allergy and clinical immunology.