Patients with asthma do not appear to have an elevated risk for severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, nor does such pneumonia seem to induce severe asthma exacerbation, according to researchers in France.

Asthma is listed as a risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other respiratory viral infections are known to be associated with severe asthma exacerbation.

A recent study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice also found patients with COVID-19 and asthma had prolonged intubation times. However, early case series have not shown an association between asthma and COVID-19.

The doctors reviewed data from a dedicated COVID-19 unit at their hospital, which is also a referral centre for patients with asthma.