Prevalence and severity of allergic asthma in children with COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

The objective of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of allergic asthma symptoms in children between the ages of 3 and 15 years who tested positive for COVID-19 through PCR testing and were admitted to an educational hospital in Iran. In 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional study that included 75 pediatric patients who tested positive for COVID-19 through PCR testing and were admitted to the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran. We used telephone interviews to complete the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire to gather information on the frequency of allergic asthma symptoms and the demographic characteristics of the patients. The results showed that 12% of the children with COVID-19 had a history of wheezing, and 77.8% had mild wheezing in the past 12 months. Logistic regression analysis revealed that children with smoking fathers were 6.3 times more likely to wheeze than children with non-smoking fathers, and the likelihood of wheezing increased with age. The wheezing history of nine children revealed one allergy history in the family, one pet care in the home, seven home heaters, and two boilers. Nine children lived in personal houses and two lived in apartments, none of which were associated with wheezing. The child's age and father's smoking behavior were found to have an impact on wheezing in asthmatic children with COVID-19. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on pediatric populations, and the public health community should focus on studying this area more thoroughly.