Patients & Methods
This is a retrospective study carried out in children between 3 and 17
years of age, with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (by
antigen test, PCR or serology) from March to December 2020. The children
were cared as outpatients in the Severo Ochoa Hospital (Leganés, Madrid)
which and as inpatients in the La Paz Hospital (Madrid) which was a
referral center for pediatric hospitalization. All patients were
contacted by telephone and informed consent was obtained. The study was
approved by the ethics committee of both hospitals. Clinical data of the
acute infection were collected, as well as those related with family
history of asthma or atopy. The ISAAC questionnaire1was carried out to determine the prevalence of asthma. Asthma was
defined as affirmative response to the question 6 of the ISAAC
questionnaire, “Has your child ever had asthma?”, and it was
considered as the main variable of the study.
Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 21.0. Values were expressed as
percentages for discrete variables, and as median and interquartile
range (IQR) for continuous variables. The demographic, clinical and
evolutionary characteristics were compared by Chi2, Fisher´s exact test
and Mann-Whitney test as appropriate. A 2-sided value of
P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.