What is already known about this topic? Patients with asthma are rare in epidemiological studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia.What does this article add to our knowledge? Being asthmatic is not a risk factor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.How does this study impact current management guidelines? Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia may not induce severe asthma exacerbation.BACKGROUND: Viral infections are known to exacerbate asthma in adults. Previous studies have found few patients with asthma among severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia cases. However, the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe asthma exacerbation is not known. OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of asthma exacerbation in patients with asthma hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and compare symptoms and laboratory and radiological findings in patients with and without asthma with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.METHODS: We included 106 patients between March 4 and April 6, 2020, who were hospitalized in the Chest Diseases Department of Strasbourg University Hospital; 23 had asthma. To assess the patients' asthma status, 3 periods were defined: the last month before the onset of COVID-19 symptoms (p1), prehospitalization (p2), and during hospitalization (p3). Severe asthma exacerbations were defined according to Global INitiative for Asthma guidelines during p1 and p2. During p3, we defined severe asthma deterioration as the onset of breathlessness and wheezing requiring systemic corticosteroids and inhaled b2 agonist. RESULTS: We found no significant difference between patients with and without asthma in terms of severity (length of stay, maximal oxygen flow needed, noninvasive ventilation requirement, and intensive care unit transfer); 52.2% of the patients with asthma had Global INitiative for Asthma step 1 asthma. One patient had a severe exacerbation during p1, 2 patients during p2, and 5 patients were treated with systemic corticosteroids and inhaled b2 agonist during p3. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that patients with asthma appeared not to be at risk for severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia did not induce severe asthma exacerbation.

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Approche diagnostique et thérapeutique d'un asthme difficileL'asthme est une maladie chronique dont le contrôle peut être influencé par de nombreux facteurs. Ainsi, en cas d'asthme difficile, l'intensification du traitement médicamenteux n'est pas la seule clé. Ces formes d'asthme nécessitent une prise en charge globale afin de dépister et de prendre en charge l'ensemble des cofacteurs pouvant expliquer le mauvais contrôle. L'objectif de cet article est de décrire la démarche systématisée et multidisciplinaire nécessaire à la prise en charge de ces patients. Diagnostic and therapeutic approach to difficult asthmaAsthma is a chronic disease and asthma control can be affected by many factors. In case of difficult asthma, intensifying drug therapy is not the key. This type of asthma needs an overall management in order to diagnose and treat each factor known to be associated with poor asthma control. The aim of this article is to describe the structured and systematic approach for these patients.