Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been widely spread. We aim to investigate the clinical characteristic and allergy status of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods Electronic medical records including demographics, clinical manifestation, comorbidities, laboratory data, and radiological materials of 140 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with confirmed result of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, were extracted and analyzed. Results An approximately 1:1 ratio of male (50.7%) and female COVID-19 patients was found, with an overall median age of 57.0 years. All patients were community-acquired cases. Fever (91.7%), cough (75.0%), fatigue (75.0%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (39.6%) were the most common clinical manifestations, whereas hypertension (30.0%) and diabetes mellitus (12.1%) were the most common comorbidities. Drug hypersensitivity (11.4%) and urticaria (1.4%) were self-reported by several patients. Asthma or other allergic diseases were not reported by any of the patients. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 1.4%) patients and current smokers (1.4%) were rare. Bilateral ground-glass or patchy opacity (89.6%) was the most common sign of radiological finding. Lymphopenia (75.4%) and eosinopenia (52.9%) were observed in most patients. Blood eosinophil counts correlate positively with lymphocyte counts in severe (r = .486, P Conclusion Detailed clinical investigation of 140 hospitalized COVID-19 cases suggests eosinopenia together with lymphopenia may be a potential indicator for diagnosis. Allergic diseases, asthma, and COPD are not risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Older age, high number of comorbidities, and more prominent laboratory abnormalities were associated with severe patients.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/all.14238

Clinical characteristics of 140 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China.

The adoption of the concept that asthma is primarily a disease most frequently associated with elaboration of T-helper 2 (Th2)-type inflammation has led to the widely held concept that its origins, exacerbation, and persistence are allergen driven. Taking aside the asthma that is expressed in non-allergic individuals leaves the great proportion of asthma that is associated with allergy (or atopy) and that often has its onset in early childhood. Evidence is presented that asthma is primarily an epithelial disorder and that its origin as well as its clinical manifestations have more to do with altered epithelial physical and functional barrier properties than being purely linked to allergic pathways. In genetically susceptible individuals, impaired epithelial barrier function renders the airways vulnerable to early life virus infection, and this in turn provides the stimulus to prime immature dendritic cells toward directing a Th2 response and local allergen sensitization. Continued epithelial susceptibility to environmental insults such as viral, allergen, and pollutant exposure and impaired repair responses leads to asthma persistence and provides the mediator and growth factor microenvironment for persistence of inflammation and airway wall remodeling. Increased deposition of matrix in the epithelial lamina reticularis provides evidence for ongoing epithelial barrier dysfunction, while physical distortion of the epithelium consequent upon repeated bronchoconstriction provides additional stimuli for remodeling. This latter response initially serves a protective function but, if exaggerated, may lead to fixed airflow obstruction associated with more severe and chronic disease. Dual pathways in the origins, persistence, and progression of asthma help explain why anti-inflammatory treatments fail to influence the natural history of asthma in childhood and only partially does so in chronic severe disease. Positioning the airway epithelium as fundamental to the origins and persistence of asthma provides a rationale for pursuit of therapeutics that increase the resistance of the airways to environmental insults rather than concentrating all effort on suppressing inflammation.

The sentinel role of the airway epithelium in asthma pathogenesis

Asthma is the most common chronic lower respiratory disease in childhood throughout the world. Several guidelines and/or consensus documents are available to support medical decisions on pediatric asthma. Although there is no doubt that the use of common systematic approaches for management can considerably improve outcomes, dissemination and implementation of these are still major challenges. Consequently, the International Collaboration in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (iCAALL), recently formed by the EAACI, AAAAI, ACAAI, and WAO, has decided to propose an International Consensus on (ICON) Pediatric Asthma. The purpose of this document is to highlight the key messages that are common to many of the existing guidelines, while critically reviewing and commenting on any differences, thus providing a concise reference. The principles of pediatric asthma management are generally accepted. Overall, the treatment goal is disease control. To achieve this, patients and their parents should be educated to optimally manage the disease, in collaboration with healthcare professionals. Identification and avoidance of triggers is also of significant importance. Assessment and monitoring should be performed regularly to re-evaluate and fine-tune treatment. Pharmacotherapy is the cornerstone of treatment. The optimal use of medication can, in most cases, help patients control symptoms and reduce the risk for future morbidity. The management of exacerbations is a major consideration, independent of chronic treatment. There is a trend toward considering phenotype-specific treatment choices; however, this goal has not yet been achieved.

/pdf/international-consensus-on-icon-pediatric-asthma-3cdfkq2de3.pdf

International consensus on (ICON) pediatric asthma

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has recently spread worldwide and been declared a pandemic. We aim to describe here the various clinical presentations of this disease by examining eleven cases. METHODS: Electronic medical records of 11 patients with COVID-19 were collected, and demographics, clinical manifestations, outcomes, key laboratory results, and radiological images are discussed. RESULTS: The clinical course of the eleven cases demonstrated the complexity of the COVID-19 profile with different clinical presentations. Clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic cases to patients with mild and severe symptoms, with or without pneumonia. Laboratory detection of the viral nucleic acid can yield false-negative results, and serological testing of virus-specific IgG and IgM antibodies should be used as an alternative for diagnosis. Patients with common allergic diseases did not develop distinct symptoms and severe courses. Cases with a pre-existing condition of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or complicated with a secondary bacterial pneumonia were more severe. CONCLUSION: All different clinical characteristics of COVID-19 should be taken into consideration to identify patients that need to be in strict quarantine for the efficient containment of the pandemic.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/all.14289

Eleven faces of coronavirus disease 2019.

Rationale: Ex vivo, bronchial epithelial cells from people with asthma are more susceptible to rhinovirus infection caused by deficient induction of the antiviral protein, IFN-β. Exogenous IFN-β restores antiviral activity.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of inhaled IFN-β with placebo administered to people with asthma after onset of cold symptoms to prevent or attenuate asthma symptoms caused by respiratory viruses.

Methods: A total of 147 people with asthma on inhaled corticosteroids (British Thoracic Society Steps 2–5), with a history of virus-associated exacerbations, were randomized to 14-day treatment with inhaled IFN-β (n = 72) or placebo (n = 75) within 24 hours of developing cold symptoms and were assessed clinically, with relevant samples collected to assess virus infection and antiviral responses.

Measurements and Main Results: A total of 91% of randomized patients developed a defined cold. In this modified intention-to-treat population, asthma symptoms did not get clinically significantly worse (mean change in six-item Asthma Control Questionnaire <0.5) and IFN-β treatment had no significant effect on this primary endpoint, although it enhanced morning peak expiratory flow recovery (P = 0.033), reduced the need for additional treatment, and boosted innate immunity as assessed by blood and sputum biomarkers. In an exploratory analysis of the subset of more difficult-to-treat, Step 4-5 people with asthma (n = 27 IFN-β; n = 31 placebo), Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 increased significantly on placebo; this was prevented by IFN-β (P = 0.004).

Conclusions: Although the trial did not meet its primary endpoint, it suggests that inhaled IFN-β is a potential treatment for virus-induced deteriorations of asthma in difficult-to-treat people with asthma and supports the need for further, adequately powered, trials in this population.

Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 01126177).

The effect of inhaled IFN-β on worsening of asthma symptoms caused by viral infections. A randomized trial.

A major part of the burden of asthma is caused by acute exacerbations. Exacerbations have been strongly and consistently associated with respiratory infections. Respiratory viruses and bacteria are therefore possible treatment targets. To have a reasonable estimate of the burden of disease induced by such infectious agents on asthmatic patients, it is necessary to understand their nature and be able to identify them in clinical samples by employing accurate and sensitive methodologies. This systematic review summarizes current knowledge and developments in infection epidemiology of acute asthma in children and adults, describing the known impact for each individual agent and highlighting knowledge gaps. Among infectious agents, human rhinoviruses are the most prevalent in regard to asthma exacerbations. The newly identified type-C rhinoviruses may prove to be particularly relevant. Respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus are important in infants, while influenza viruses seem to induce severe exacerbations mostly in adults. Other agents are relatively less or not clearly associated. Mycoplasma and Chlamydophila pneumoniae seem to be involved more with asthma persistence rather than with disease exacerbations. Recent data suggest that common bacteria may also be involved, but this should be confirmed. Although current information is considerable, improvements in detection methodologies, as well as the wide variation in respect to location, time and populations, underline the need for additional studies that should also take into account interacting factors.

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A Stipic-Markovic

Papers

Viruses and bacteria in acute asthma exacerbations--a GA² LEN-DARE systematic review.