Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2021 Jan 2;49(1):113-117.
doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i1.40. eCollection 2021.

Inhaled corticosteroids may have a protective effect against coronavirus infection

Alicia Armentia  1 , Sara Fernández Cortés  2 , Angela Moro Simón  2 , Blanca Martín-Armentia  2 , Sara Martín-Armentia  3 , Daniel Ramos Pollo  4 , Juan Claudio Navarro Cañadas  4 , Javier Visa Caño  4 , Álvaro Sanz Rubiales  5 , Joaquín Rodriguez Fra  5 , Sara García Vaquero  6 , Marta Cano Pazos  6 , Jesús Galán de la Calle  6 , Edgardo Raul Lowell  6 , Cristina Crespo Soto  7 , Carmen Sánchez Toledano  8 , Aurora Sacristán Salgado  9
Affiliations
Observational Study

Inhaled corticosteroids may have a protective effect against coronavirus infection

Alicia Armentia et al. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). .

Abstract

Background: Spain has been severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, with 195,944 persons infected and 20,453 deaths at the time of writing. Older people with respiratory or cardiac conditions are most at risk.

Objective: The aim was to compare respiratory symptoms in nursing home residents and patients with uncontrolled asthma, who are considered vulnerable to COVID-19.

Methods: We studied 134 nursing home residents and 139 patients with uncontrolled asthma, groups vulnerable to COVID-19. Demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, outcomes, key laboratory results, and radiological images were collected from medical records. COVID-19 infection was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: Thirteen (9.3%) patients with uncontrolled asthma, all receiving inhaled corticosteroids were infected by COVID-19. Eighty (60%) nursing home residents were infected; only 28, all of whom had received inhaled corticosteroids, had a good prognosis.

Conclusions: Early treatment with inhaled corticosteroids may be helpful in COVID-19 infection. Persons with an allergy might have some protective mechanisms against coronavirus.

Keywords: COVID; Th2 cell immunity; allergy; asthma severe; coronavirus; coronavirus infection; corticosteroids; nursing home; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. 1. World Health Organization Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report. Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/20200312-sitrep-52-....
    1. 2. Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: summary of a report of 72314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020;323(13):1239–1242. 10.1001/jama.2020.2648 - DOI
    1. 3. Korean Society of Infectious Diseases. Report on the epidemiological features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-10) outbreak in the Republic of Korea from January 19 to March 2, 2020. J Korean Med Sci. 2020;35(10):e112. 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e112 - DOI
    1. 4. Shaker MS, Oppenheimer J, Grayson M, Stukus D, Hartog N, Hsieh E, et al. COVID-19: pandemic contingency planning for the Allergy and Immunology Clinic. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2020;8:1477.e5–1488.e5. 10.1016/j.jaip.2020.03.012 - DOI
    1. 5. Jiang X, Hou X, Tang L, Jiang Y, Ma G, Li Y. A phase trial of the oral Lactobacillus casei vaccine polarizes Th2 cell immunity against transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus infection. App Microbiol Biotechnol. 2016;100:7457–7469. 10.1007/s00253-016-7424-9 - DOI

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances