Persistent asthma-like symptoms in COVID-19 patients 3 and 12 months after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome is recognised as a complex systematic disease. There is limited information on asthma-like symptoms following acute COVID-19. <b>Objective:</b> We estimated prevalence and persistence of asthma-like symptoms at 3 and 12 months after acute COVID-19 as compared to a control population. <b>Methods:</b> Community-based COVID-19 patients from the first pandemic wave in Bergen, Norway, were included in a longitudinal clinical study. At 3- and 12-months, 158 and 89 patients, respectively, also participated in an additional sub-study, which was harmonised with clinical follow-up of the community-based RHINESSA population (control) with 235 participants. The European Community Respiratory Heath Survey structured questionnaire on general characteristics, asthma and respiratory symptoms, was administered to both groups. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in acute COVID-19 patients at two time points post infection was estimated, using logistic regression adjusted for sex, age and smoking. <b>Results:</b> In the COVID-19 patients, symptoms in the last 3 days were more common after 12 than after 3 months: wheeze 11.2% vs 3.2%, waking up with shortness of breath (SOB) 5.6% vs 0.6%, and night cough 10.1% vs 3.2%. A year after the infection, COVID-19 cases reported more asthma-like symptoms than the control population: waking up with SOB (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.50, 1.10-5.68); wheeze in the last 3 days (OR, 95%CI: 5.00, 1.10-22.8); and waking up with cough in the last 3 days (OR, 95%CI: 1.80, 0.60-5.37). <b>Conclusion:</b> Our findings indicated that asthma-like symptoms persisted one year after acute COVID-19.