BMC Infect Dis . Persistent cough and asthma-like symptoms post COVID-19 hospitalization in children

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BMC Infect Dis


. 2022 Mar 12;22(1):244.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-022-07252-2.
Persistent cough and asthma-like symptoms post COVID-19 hospitalization in children


Hossein Esmaeilzadeh ^{1 2} , Anahita Sanaei Dashti ³ , Negar Mortazavi ⁴ , Hossein Fatemian ⁵ , Mohebat Vali ⁶



Affiliations

• PMID: 35279094
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07252-2

Abstract

Backgrounds: Respiratory viruses are the main triggers of asthma. Coronavirus is shown to contribute to respiratory tract infections that can lead to prolonged cough and asthma.
Objectives: Present study aimed to determine the risk of developing Persistent cough and asthma-like symptoms in hospitalized children due to COVID-19.
Methods: This prospective study was carried out in a tertiary referral center. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 69 hospitalized pediatric patients admitted with COVID-19 were observed from February 2020 to January 2021. Clinical and laboratory data were recorded, and after discharge, patients were followed and visited for cough and asthma evaluation one, 2 and 6 months later. Patients with asthma-like diagnoses in follow up defined as asthma-like groups, and patients without any sign of asthma were categorized as the non-asthma group. Asthma-like co-morbids and risk factors were evaluated and compared between the two groups.
Results: In follow-up, most of the COVID-19 hospitalized patients (N = 42) (58.5%) were not affected by asthma-like symptoms. 60.9% of the COVID-19 patients were male. The asthma-like group cases had a significantly familial history of asthma (63.0%), past medical history of asthma (33.3%), and Allergic rhinitis (85.2%). Rates of signs and symptoms during hospitalization were significantly higher in patients with COVID-19 and past medical history of asthma.
Conclusions: We found an asthma-like prevalence of 41.5% in the cohort of COVID-19 hospitalized children. Family history of asthma and previous history of asthma and allergic rhinitis are risk factors for asthma-like after COVID-19 hospitalization. COVID-19 presentations are more severe in the asthma-like group.

Keywords: Asthma; COVID-19; Child; Hospitalization.