Covid-19: Poorly controlled asthma increases risk of hospital admission among children sixfold, finds study

Children with poorly controlled asthma are at a higher risk of being admitted to hospital with covid-19 and should therefore be prioritised for vaccination, according to researchers who analysed data on 750 000 children.1

The Scottish study looked at five to 17 year olds with poorly controlled asthma, defined as those who have been admitted to hospital with asthma or prescribed two or more courses of oral steroids within the past two years, and found they were between three and six times more likely to be admitted to hospital with covid-19 compared with those without asthma.

As a result, the researchers are calling for unvaccinated children with poorly …