Older age, male sex, and other medical conditions not associated with heightened risk .Unlike Asian ethnicity, obesity, overcrowding, socializing, and people-facing roles.<\/p>\n
People with allergic conditions such as hay fever, rhinitis, and atopic eczema, may have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, especially if they also have asthma, finds a large, population-based study of UK adults, published online in the respiratory journalThorax.<\/p>\n
And contrary to the findings of recent studies, older age, male sex, and other underlying conditions arent linked to a heightened risk of infection, the research indicates.<\/p>\n
But Asian ethnicity, obesity, household overcrowding, socializing indoors with other households, and holding down a people-facing role other than in health and social care are all independently associated with a heightened risk of developing COVID-19, the findings show.<\/p>\n
A growing body of evidence suggests that at least some risk factors for developing COVID-19 may differ from those which predispose to severe disease and the need for intensive care, say the researchers.<\/p>\n
To explore this further and glean what contribution demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, diet, medical treatment and underlying conditions might make to the risk of developing COVID-19, the researchers captured detailed information on potential risk factors for the infection among UK adults between May 2020 and February 2021.<\/p>\n
All participants were asked to provide information on their age, household circumstances, job, lifestyle, weight, height, long-standing medical conditions, medication use, vaccination status, diet, and supplement intake when they joined the study and then again in subsequent months.<\/p>\n
Out of 16,081 eligible people, 15,227 completed at least one subsequent monthly follow-up questionnaire 30 days or more after joining the study; and 14,348 completed the final questionnaire on or before 5 February 2021.<\/p>\n
The average age of the participants was 59; 70% were women; and 95% identified their ethnic origin as white.<\/p>\n
In all, 446 participants (almost 3%) had at least one episode of confirmed COVID-19 infection, as determined by swab (PCR or lateral flow) test during the study period, and 32 were admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n
The researchers accounted for an array of potentially influential factors: age: sex: length of participation in the study: ethnicity: testing frequency: ethnicity; education; deprivation; household income; housing type; number of people per bedroom; schoolchildren at home; ownership of a pet dog; shielding; socialising with other households; visits to shops and other indoor public places; travel to work or study; frontline worker status; physical activity; alcohol intake; weight (BMI); asthma; allergies; use of immune suppressant drugs, inhaled corticosteroids, and bronchodilators; BCG vaccination status; fruit, vegetable, and salad intake; and use of nutritional supplements.<\/p>\n
Certain factors consequently emerged as being independently associated with increased odds of developing COVID-19.<\/p>\n
People of Asian\/Asian British ethnicity were more than twice as likely to become infected as their white counterparts.<\/p>\n
Similarly, household overcrowding; socializing with other households in the preceding week; number of visits to indoor public places; a people-facing role other than in health and social care; and overweight\/obesity were all associated with a heightened risk.<\/p>\n
And the greater the number of people sharing a household and the higher the number of visits made to indoor public places, the higher were the odds of becoming infected, the findings showed.<\/p>\n
But atopic (triggered by allergens) disease, which includes eczema\/dermatitis and hay fever\/allergic rhinitis, was independently associated with 23% lower odds of developing the infection than it was in those without atopic disease or asthma.<\/p>\n
And among those who had atopic disease and asthma, the risk was even lower: 38%.This association held true even after factoring in the use of steroid inhalers.<\/p>\n
Taking drugs to dampen down the immune system response (immunosuppressants) was also associated with 53% lower odds of COVID-19 infection, although this may reflect greater shielding from infection by these patients, say the researchers.<\/p>\n
But age, sex, other medical conditions, diet, and supplement use werent associated with infection risk.<\/p>\n
This is an observational study, and as such, cant establish cause. And the researchers acknowledge some limitations to their study.<\/p>\n
These include no oversight of swab testing and reliance on the results of routine testing that will usually have been prompted by symptoms, so potentially missing those with symptomless infection.<\/p>\n
Participants also volunteered themselves, so some ethnic minorities, particularly people of black, African, and Caribbean ethnicities, were underrepresented in the study.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the researchers conclude: This large, population-based prospective study shows that there is limited overlap between risk factors for developing COVID-19 versus those for intensive care unit admission and death, as reported in hospitalized cohorts.<\/p>\n
Reference: Risk factors for developing COVID-19: a population-based longitudinal study (COVIDENCE UK) by Hayley Holt, Mohammad Talaei, Matthew Greenig, Dominik Zenner, Jane Symons, Clare Relton, Katherine S Young, Molly R Davies, Katherine N Thompson, Jed Ashman, Sultan Saeed Rajpoot, Ahmed Ali Kayyale, Sarah El Rifai, Philippa J Lloyd, David Jolliffe, Olivia Timmis, Sarah Finer, Stamatina Iliodromiti, Alec Miners, Nicholas S Hopkinson, Bodrul Alam, Graham Lloyd-Jones, Thomas Dietrich, Iain Chapple, Paul E Pfeffer, David McCoy, Gwyneth Davies, Ronan A Lyons, Christopher Griffiths, Frank Kee, Aziz Sheikh, Gerome Breen, Seif O Shaheen and Adrian R Martineau, 30 November 2021 2021, Thorax.DOI: 10.1136\/thoraxjnl-2021-217487<\/p>\n
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\nPeople With Allergic Conditions Such As Hay Fever and Eczema May Have a Lower Risk of COVID-19 Infection - SciTechDaily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"