Managing Asthmatic Fears During COVID-19

As covered by Lakiea Wright, MD, in a previous interview segment with HCPLive® during the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) 2021 Virtual Sessions, a series of new studies presented at the annual meeting this weekend indicated the association between COVID-19 risk and asthma status may be specific to differing phenotypes, treatment regimens, and biomarkers.

In the second segment of her AAAAI 2021 discussion with HCPLive, Wright, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Thermo Fisher Scientific, explained what clinicians should contrive from this newest research in navigating asthmatic patient concerns during the pandemic.

“I would say that there’s a lot of information out there, we’re still understanding it, and the pace at which we’re trying to understand SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 is just so rapid,” Wright said. “A really good take-home is that we have that meta-analysis suggesting asthma in general is not a risk factor for COVID-19, but we want to make sure that patients with asthma have their asthma control during the pandemic.”

Wright acknowledged the matters of asthma controller treatment adherence and patient confidence in using their medication—shortcomings in the field exacerbated by the unlikelihood of a patient risking COVID-19 concerns to make an in-person clinical visit to rectify such issues.

“I would say the focus is always on control, control, control,” Wright said.

Wright also discussed the risk of asthma-triggering viruses including rhinovirus—and the benefit of mask-wearing against such risks additional to COVID-19. What’s more, patients are facing a greater likelihood of indoor allergen exposures during isolation and social distancing mandates.