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Children with poorly controlled asthma up to six times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid, study finds

Researchers suggest that nearly 110,000 affected UK children over the age of five should be considered a priority for vaccines, Andy Gregory reports

Saturday 04 December 2021 21:22 GMT
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<p>Children with poorly controlled asthma should be prioritised for coronavirus vaccination, experts suggest</p>

Children with poorly controlled asthma should be prioritised for coronavirus vaccination, experts suggest

Poorly controlled asthma in children increases the risk of them requiring hospital treatment once infected with Covid-19, an “urgent analysis” requested by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has found.

Studying data on all children in Scotland aged between five and 17 years old, researchers found that those prescribed two or more courses of oral steroids for their asthma in the previous two years were three times more likely to be hospitalised with coronavirus than those without asthma.

That increase rose from three to sixfold in children who had recently been hospitalised as a result of their asthma, according to the study published this week in Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

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