Rare atopy in COVID-19 patients or COVID-19 famine in atopic patients?

Background There are conflicting results in the literature regarding the frequency of allergic diseases in COVID-19 patients. The effect of having an allergic disease on COVID-19 disease severity has been little studied. Purpose In this study, we tried to determine the frequency of allergic diseases in COVID-19 patients and the effect of having an allergic disease on COVID-19 disease severity. Design/Method A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in a state hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Patients were contacted by phone and those who approved to participate in the study were questioned about their sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, smoking history, and about their atopic status. Rate of atopic diseases among mild and severe COVID-19 patients and risk estimates for mild disease in atopic and non-atopic COVID-19 patients were calculated. Results Study population consisted of 235 adults with COVID-19 (mean age, 45.3 years [standard deviation, 15.0 years]; 139 [59.1%] male). Among study population, 16 (6.8%) subjects had one of the three atopic symptoms, which were wheezing, rhinitis, or eczema. Among the subjects with atopic status, four (1.7%) subjects had wheezing, eight (3.4%) had rhinitis, and four (1.7%) had eczema within the last 12 months. Although atopic status is associated with 3.1 times higher odds for mild disease, being atopic or not being atopic was not found to be associated with COVID-19 severity (P = .054). Conclusion The information that atopic diseases are less common in COVID-19 patients may guide clinical risk classification.

Automated summary

The study found that allergic diseases are less common in COVID-19 patients, but there is no clear association between atopic status and the severity of COVID-19 disease.