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

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.