Is COVID-19 responsible for asthma and COPD exacerbations?

Abstract

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is transmitted by the respiratory tract and was first identified in the Wuhan province of China. The causative agent of the disease is SARS-CoV-2. There is little known about this disease and its agent, which affected the whole world in a short time and became a pandemic. Molecular interactions between COVID-19 and chronic respiratory diseases are unknown. In this study, we examined the patients admitted to our outpatient clinic with the diagnosis of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) exacerbation. We investigated how much of the exacerbations during the pandemic period are caused by the COVID-19 virus and whether there have been any changes in the treatment of and approaches to exacerbations stemming from COVID-19. COVID-19 was detected in 135 of the patients. Clinically, fever, myalgia, and headache findings were significantly more common in patients with a positive COVID-19 PCR CoV 2 test in patients who were diagnosed with an attack of Asthma or exacerbation of COPD (p<0.001). The number of hospitalizations, the need for intensive care, the need for ventilation support, and the number of mortality were high in asthma and COPD patients with positiveSARS- CoV-2 tests (p<0.05 ). Based on the results of our study, patients with COPD and asthma exacerbations due to COVID-19 should be evaluated from a wider perspective. As is known, chronic diseases are poor prognostic factors for COVID-19, but asthma and COPD chronic disease are prominent among them. If there is a need for different approaches for the treatment of these patients, these approaches should be determined urgently.