Asthma Patients 30% Less Likely To Contract COVID-19, Claims New Study
Asthma was found in 153 individuals from the COVID-19 positive group and around 3,888 in the COVID-19 negative group.
With the novel coronavirus still on the loose, we all are doing whatever it takes to save us from being infected by the life-threatening coronavirus, while we desperately wait for the vaccines to start rolling out.
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People with weaker immune systems or people with existing lung conditions are believed to be more susceptible to catching the novel coronavirus. However, a new study reveals that people suffering from asthma are 30 percent less likely to contract the coronavirus.
This is according to a study conducted in Israel, where they observed 37,496 subjects, who were tested for the novel coronavirus from February to June 2020. Out of these, 2,266 people (6 percent) tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Asthma was found in 153 individuals from the COVID-19 positive group and around 3,888 in the COVID-19 negative group.
This result is rather astonishing and researchers donĄ¯t have an exact idea as to why this occurred. However, study author, Dr Eugene Merzon, in a statement to Jerusalem Post, a few theories that could have contributed to this.
Merzon, who is the head of the Department of Managed Care in Leumit Health Services, says that one of the theories is that asthma causes a reduction of ACE2 receptors (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) which is an entry-point for SARS-CoV-2 to hook and infect cells in the human body.
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Secondly, since it was already known that people with pre-existing respiratory conditions are more susceptible, people who had asthma have been extremely cautious. Another theory he feels is that the inhaled corticosteroids that are consumed by people with asthma (like inhalers) could be reducing the likelihood of catching the virus, as has been shown in a recent study.
Researchers, however, do state the fact that more such studies need to be looked into with wider sample sizes and including patients from different parts of the world. In the meantime, people with asthma should continue to be cautious and doctors should continue treating patients with asthma.
