Asthma does not appear to be a risk factor for severe COVID-19, an analysis of almost 17,000 UK patients who were admitted to hospital suggests.
The ISARIC4C study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, included COVID-19-positive patients admitted to 166 hospitals and is the largest detailed description of COVID-19 in Europe to date.
It found that a third of UK patients admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 had underlying respiratory co-morbidities; 19% had non-asthmatic chronic pulmonary disease and 14% had asthma.
Other common co-morbidities include chronic cardiac disease which was present in 29% and uncomplicated diabetes in 19% of patients.
Patients who ended up in hospital had a median age of 72 and had symptoms for an average of four days before admission.
Overall 33% of patients included in the analysis died and among those needing intensive care the death rate was 45%, the analysis found.
Having a co-morbidity, being male, older and being overweight were all linked with an increased risk of death, the report concluded.