Development of Asthma-Like Symptoms After COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Background Coronaviruses are viral agents that commonly infect animals, but have the ability to cause respiratory illness in humans, exemplified by the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). Due to the sparse literature on the effects of COVID-19 on the respiratory system, and the possible development of persistent asthma-like symptoms after infection, this cross-sectional analysis was performed in order to compare the clinical and investigative parameters between post-COVID patients and asthmatic patients. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with prior history of COVID-19 infection that presented to the pulmonology or respiratory outpatient clinics with asthma-like symptoms and were subsequently compared to known asthmatic patients with absent history of prior COVID-19 infection, in order to evaluate the degree of similarity between both cohorts. In this study, asthma-like symptoms were defined as: (i) cough, (ii) wheezing, (iii) chest tightness, and (iv) shortness of breath. Moreover, comparisons of investigative parameters were also performed, including (i) fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), (ii) serum immunoglobulin E (IgE), (iii) absolute eosinophil counts, and (iv) qualitative spirometry results. All statistical analyses were conducted via chi-squared testing for categorical variables, and independent t-test for continuous variables. Results In this study, there were a total of 76 patients included that conformed to the eligibility criteria, including 39 patients with post-COVID symptoms with absent history of asthma or other respiratory illnesses, and 37 patients with known asthma with absent history of prior COVID-19 infection or other respiratory illnesses. Overall, this study revealed the similarities between both cohorts with respect to the incidence of cough, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Moreover, there were similarities between the serum IgE and spirometry results. However, there were differences within the complaint of wheeze, FeNO values, and eosinophil counts between both cohorts. The placement of post-COVID patients on bronchodilator therapy involving inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists revealed improvement in all follow-up patients. Conclusion In conclusion, there was considerable similarity in the complaint of asthma-like symptoms after COVID-19 infection, associated with an improvement after the use of bronchodilator therapy, indicating the potential role of anti-asthma therapy (e.g., bronchodilator therapy) in managing post-COVID asthma-like symptoms. In order to validate our conclusion, further comprehensive studies with robust methodologies and larger sample populations are encouraged.