Pediatric asthma exacerbation and COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts, challenges, and future considerations.

Objective: Asthma, a common disease among children and adolescents, poses a great health risk when ignored; therefore, a thorough follow-up to prevent exacerbations is emphasized. The aim of the present study is to investigate asthma exacerbation in children during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era.

Data Sources: This narrative review has been done by searching the PubMed and Embase databases using Asthma, COVID-19, Pandemic, and Symptom flare up as keywords.

Study Selections: Studies related to asthma exacerbation in COVID-19 pandemic were included.

Results: Based on studies, controlled or mild to moderate asthma has not been considered a risk factor for COVID-19 severity and has not affected hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality. Surprisingly, emergent and non-emergent visits and asthmatic attacks decreased during the pandemic. The three main reasons for decreased incidence and exacerbation of asthma episodes in the COVID-19 era included reduced exposure to environmental allergens, increasing the acceptance of treatment by pediatrics and caregivers, and decreased risk of other respiratory viral infections. Based on the available studies, COVID-19 vaccination had no serious side effects, except in cases of uncontrolled severe asthma, and can be injected in these children. Also, there was no conclusive evidence of asthma exacerbation after the injection of COVID-19 vaccines.

Conclusion: Further studies are recommended to follow the pattern of asthma in the post-pandemic situation and to become prepared for similar future conditions.