New coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and respiratory diseases / pathological conditions

Abstract

The respiratory system is the main target of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID19) spread by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The interim guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation “Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)” (14th version of December 27, 2021) discuss pneumonia in COVID-19 in detail. The issues of the course of other respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-COPD, bronchial asthma) are considered in them very briefly. Other diseases and pathological conditions of the respiratory organs are ignored. The federal clinical guidelines Bronchial Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults published in 2021 do not discuss the course of these diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A search was made for literature on the association of major diseases and pathological conditions of the respiratory organs with the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 in the electronic search engines PubMed and Scopus. The literature sources found indicate that the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 certainly has a specific, often negative, effect on the respiratory system as a whole, and in particular, on certain respiratory diseases and pathological conditions. However, this influence is sometimes ambiguous. Thus, patients with COPD, along with patients with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, belong to a vulnerable group of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was a decrease in the frequency of exacerbations of COPD during the pandemic, especially hospitalizations. due to severe exacerbations. A number of meta-analyses and systematic reviews have shown that the risk of contracting COVID-19 in people with asthma is lower than in people without asthma. There is no association between asthma and a more severe course and worse prognosis of COVID-19. The relationship of diseases/pathological conditions of the respiratory system and COVID-19, therefore, requires further study and clarification.