Asthma and care during a coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

The new coronavirus, discovered in December 2019, is the causative agent of severe pneumonia that has spawned a global pandemic. The recognition of risk and protection factors are essential to guide the follow-up of new treatments and infection prevention strategies. This study aims to assess the influence of asthma against the pandemic due to the new coronavirus, with regard to the pathophysiology of pathological conditions, risk factors, therapeutic forms, associated comorbidities and the current protocols that are being used in such a scenario. The study is based on an integrative research of narrative literature review. In order to establish the relationship between asthma and COVID-19, articles published in the years 2019 and 2020 were limited to the PubMed and BVS virtual libraries. Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by inflammation of the airways, hyperresponsiveness, exacerbated mucus production and remodeling. The most frequent trigger of the pathology is airway infection, especially of viral origin. The asthmatic patient's innate immune system is unable to prevent the spread of these viruses to the lower respiratory tract. Currently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization suggest that patients with moderate and severe asthma may be at higher risk for severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, in the literature, there are no findings that corroborate. Therefore, he sees that the study and new associations must be continued, in order to better understand the relationship between asthma and COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19. Asthma. Risk factor.