LONDON: Children with poorly controlled asthma are three to six times more likely to be hospitalised with COVID-19 in comparison to those without the condition and vaccination can cut the risk among such populations, according to a research involving the University of Strathclyde.
Experts advise that children and young people aged between 5 and 17 years, who have poorly controlled asthma, should be considered for vaccination to reduce the risk of infection and the spread of the virus in schools and households.
Considering the risks, the researchers say that some 9,000 of these children in Scotland could benefit from being vaccinated and more than 109,000 children could benefit across the UK, the University of Strathclyde said in a release on Friday.
Around 1.1 million children in the UK are estimated to have asthma.
Poorly controlled asthma was defined in this study as prior hospitalisation for asthma or being prescribed at least two courses of oral steroids in the previous two years, said the study which has been published in the prominent journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
The findings also highlight the importance of careful monitoring of children with poorly controlled asthma if they become infected with COVID-19.
The study predates the detection of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
As part of the study, the research team, which also included researchers from the Universities of Edinburg, Aberdeen, Glasgow and St Andrews and Public Health Scotland, analysed a dataset as part of the EAVE II project, dataset that uses anonymised linked patient data to track the pandemic and covers 99 per cent of the Scottish population.
The study is a result of a request by the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to use EAVE II to investigate the risk of hospitalisation in school-aged children with poorly controlled asthma.
"COVID-19 can be a severe disease among children and this study has provided additional insight into which conditions can put some young individuals more at-risk. We hope the findings can assist the JCVI with its efforts to identify those who should be eligible for the vaccine and further extend the offer of protection to those most vulnerable to the virus," said Professor Chris Robertson from the University of Strathclyde's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
COVID-19 vaccines are already available for children aged 12 to 17 years and I would encourage those who have not yet been vaccinated to consider this option, particularly those who have experienced issues with asthma, added Robertson, who is also Head of Statistics at Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and co-author of the study.
Using the Scotland-wide EAVE II COVID-19 surveillance platform, around 750,000 de-identified health records for five to 17-year-olds across Scotland were analysed, which included 63,463 children diagnosed with asthma.
Among children with asthma, there were 4,339 confirmed cases of COVID-19 between March 1, 2020 and July 27, 2021.
Of these, 67 children were admitted to the hospital.
Among children without asthma, there were 40,231 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of whom 382 were admitted to hospitals.
Using two or more recent courses of oral steroids as the marker of poorly controlled asthma, 255 per 100,000 of children with poorly controlled asthma had COVID-19 hospitalisation, compared to 54 per 100,000 of children without asthma and 91 per 100,000 of children with well-controlled asthma.
Among children with asthma, 548 per 100,000 of children who had been in hospital for asthma in the previous two years were hospitalised with COVID-19 compared with 94 per 100,000 who were not hospitalised for asthma in the previous two years.