Assessment of coronavirus disease 2019 severity in hospitalized pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis: a case‒control study

Abstract

Introduction: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has included asthma as a risk factor for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness. Respiratory viruses are known to run a more severe course in patients with underlying respiratory illnesses. However, the reports on the association of atopic dermatitis and COVID-19 infection are contrasting. Aims and Objectives: We aimed at assessing the difference between the severity of COVID-19 illness in patients having concurrent atopic dermatitis compared to those without concurrent atopic dermatitis. Materials and Methods: Study subjects included real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive COVID-19 patients under the age of 18 years. The patients were divided into two groups, namely, cases and controls. Cases included children with atopic dermatitis diagnosed according to revised Hanifin and Rajka criteria with positive COVID-19 RT-PCR report. Controls were age-and sex-matched children from the same center with COVID-19, without atopic dermatitis. Disease severity was compared between the two groups. In addition, the COVID-19 severity was correlated with the SCORAD in the "cases" group. Results: While assessing the severity of COVID-19 illness on the basis of computed tomography score and clinical severity, there was a higher proportion of "severe" illness in "cases" compared to "controls," however, the difference was statistically insignificant. There was no significant correlation between high SCORAD scores and severe COVID-19 illness. Conclusion: Our study contributes to the ever-growing data suggesting that atopic diathesis is not a risk factor for acquiring COVID-19.

Keywords

• asthma
• atopic dermatitis
• coronavirus disease 2019
• pediatric coronavirus disease 2019
• severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2