People with allergies are less likely to get corona

People with allergic diseases, including hay fever, asthma or eczema, have a reduced chance of becoming infected with the corona virus. Researchers at Queen Mary University in London discovered this. The results have been published in the medical-scientific journal Thorax.

The study monitored a total of 16,081 adults between May 1, 2020 and February 5, 2021. This included age, height, weight, eating habits, medication and vaccination. Demographic and socio-economic factors were also taken into account. During the study period, about 3 percent, 446 participants, tested positive for the virus.

It turned out that the participants with so-called atopic diseases, such as eczema or dermatitis, but also allergies such as hay fever or rhinitis, were 23 percent less likely to have a covid infection. Asthma patients were even 38 percent less likely to be infected. To the great surprise of the researchers, older male patients with underlying conditions also had no increased risk of infection. The study also found that British people of Asian descent were more likely to become infected. The size of the household also weighs heavily: for every 0.5 extra person per bedroom, the risk of infection increases by a factor of 1.26.

It is not clear why allergies appear to reduce the risk of infection. More research is needed for that. The researchers made another important note to their results: the study was conducted before the Delta and Omikron variants were introduced, so the effect of allergies on these mutations is unknown.

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