COVID-19 Linked To Asthma, Seasonal Allergies
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025 — COVID-19 infection might increase a person’s risk of developing asthma, seasonal allergies and long-lasting sinus problems, a new study says.
However, vaccination appears to reduce this risk, researchers report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
“It is interesting to see that vaccination not only protects against the infection itself, but also appears to provide good protection against certain respiratory complications,” senior investigator Philip Curman, a researcher in medical epidemiology and biostatistics at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a news release.
For the study, researchers compared nearly 974,000 people who’d been infected with COVID with more than 4.4 million people who’d been neither infected nor vaccinated. The records came from a major U.S. electronic health database.
Results showed that COVID patients had a 66% increased risk of developing asthma.
They also had a 74% higher risk of chronic sinus inflammation and a 27% increased risk of hay fever, researchers said.
However, infection did not increase risk of other diseases like eczema or esophageal inflammation, researchers siad.
“Our results suggest that COVID-19 can trigger type-2 inflammation in the airways, but not in other organs,” Curman said.
The team also compared healthy people against those vaccinated against COVID and found the opposite effect — risk of asthma was 32% lower against those who’d gotten the jab.
But when COVID patients were compared to those vaccinated against COVID, an even clearer effect was found.
People infected with COVID had more than twice the risk of asthma or sinus problems and 40% higher odds of hay fever, compared to those who’d been vaccinated.
However, researchers warned that the study could only show an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between COVID and airway problems.
Sources
- Karolinska Institute, news release, Aug. 14, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted August 2025
Further Support and Information on COVID-19
Read this next
Fatal Snakebite at Tennessee Park Highlights Risks in the Wild
FRIDAY, Aug. 22, 2025 — Authorities in Tennessee reported a rare and tragic death after a hiker was bitten by a rattlesnake. Fatal snakebites are extremely uncommon in the...
Vaping Is A Gateway To Smoking, Evidence Says
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 — Vaping appears to act as a gateway to cigarette smoking among young people, a new evidence review says. E-cigarettes also were significantly...
AAP Issues New Vaccine Guidelines That Differ From U.S. Government Advice
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2025 — For the first time in 30 years, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued vaccine recommendations that differ from U.S. government...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.