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
Review
. 2021 Apr 29:9:661206.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.661206. eCollection 2021.

An Overview of Asthma and COVID-19: Protective Factors Against SARS-COV-2 in Pediatric Patients

Maria Liuzzo Scorpo  1 , Giuliana Ferrante  1 , Stefania La Grutta  2
Affiliations
Review

An Overview of Asthma and COVID-19: Protective Factors Against SARS-COV-2 in Pediatric Patients

Maria Liuzzo Scorpo et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus SARS-COV-2. Aberrant innate immunity response and cytokine storm are responsible for the syndrome. Apparently, in asthmatic patients, the inadequate antiviral immune response and the tendency for asthma exacerbation evoked by common respiratory viruses could explain increased susceptibility to SARS-COV-2 infection. However, asthma has not been suggested to be a risk factor in COVID-19 patients. Therefore, in asthmatic patients some potential protective mechanisms against SARS-COV-2 have been hypothesized, like type 2 immune response, number of eosinophils, overproduction of mucus, and asthma treatment, along with behavioral factors not strictly related to asthma, such as social distancing, hygiene measures and wearing facemasks, that contribute to reduce the individual susceptibility to SARS-COV-2 infection. In this mini-review, we will describe the current literature regarding potential protective factors against COVID-19 in children with asthma based on the evidence available so far.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; asthma; children; protective factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impact of T2 immune response on SARS-COV-2 infection susceptibility and severity. T2 immune response inhibits SARS-COV-2 entry into the cell through ACE2R down-regulation (red arrow) and helps to clear the viral load through activation of immune response orchestrated by eosinophils (green arrow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shukla SC. ACE2 expression in allergic airway disease may decrease the risk and severity of COVID-19. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. (2020) 6:1–4. 10.1007/s00405-020-06408-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu S, Zhi Y, Ying S. COVID-19 and asthma: reflection during the pandemic. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. (2020) 59:78–88. 10.1007/s12016-020-08797-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morais-Almeida M, Pité H, Aguiar R, Ansotegui I, Bousquet J. Asthma and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a literature review. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. (2020) 181:680–8. 10.1159/000509057 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chavasse R, Almario A, Christopher A, Kappos A, Shankar A. The indirect impact of COVID-19 on children with asthma. Arch Bronconeumol. (2020) 56:768–9. 10.1016/j.arbres.2020.07.003 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ciprandi G, Licari A, Filippelli G, Tosca MA, Marseglia GL. Children and adolescents with allergy and/or asthma seem to be protected from coronavirus disease 2019. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. (2020) 125:361–2. 10.1016/j.anai.2020.06.001 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources