As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, parents everywhere worried about the potential long-term effects the virus could have on their children’s health. One particular concern was whether contracting COVID-19 could increase a child’s risk of developing asthma, a chronic lung disease that causes wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. Thankfully, new research shows there’s no link between the two conditions.
Asthma affects millions of children worldwide, and previous research has shown that certain respiratory viral infections, such as rhinovirus (the common cold) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), can trigger asthma development in some kids. So it’s natural to wonder if the virus behind COVID-19, known as SARS-CoV-2, could have a similar effect.
But the new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, brings some reassuring news for parents. The research, led by doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, found that children who tested positive for COVID-19 were at no greater risk of being diagnosed with asthma over the next 18 months compared to children who tested negative.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the electronic health records of over 27,000 children between the ages of 1 and 16 who received a PCR test for COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. PCR tests are considered the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19 infection by detecting the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The researchers divided the children into two groups – those who tested positive for COVID-19 and those who tested negative. They then tracked which children in each group were newly diagnosed with asthma over the following year and a half. To ensure they were capturing true asthma cases, the researchers looked for kids who not only had a new asthma diagnosis code in their medical record, but were also prescribed an asthma medication like an inhaler.
What they found was that 1.81% of kids who had COVID-19 were later diagnosed with asthma, while 1.82% of kids who tested negative for the virus were diagnosed with the condition. This small difference led the researchers to conclude that there was no significant association between COVID-19 infection and the development of asthma in children.
