Title : The prevalence of covid-19 infection in patients presented with acute exacerbation of asthma, copd and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at the emergency department of al-shaab teaching hospital from July 2021 to November 2021
Abstract:
Background: Even though respiratory viruses are one of the most common triggers for asthma exacerbations, not all of these viruses affect patients equally.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of covid19 infection in patients presented with acute exacerbation of asthma, COPD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.
Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive hospital based study. The study was conducted in Al-Shaab Teaching Hospital during the period from July 2021 to November 2021. The study sample was 345 patients presented with acute exacerbations fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the study. Data was colleted using a questionnaire which filled with the patients after taking informed consent.
Results: The study included 175(50.7%) presented with asthma, 116(33.6%) with lung fibrosis and 54(15.7%) had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The prevalence of COVID 19 among the patients was 58(16.8%). Considering the three groups the higher prevalence of COVID was reported in 22(40.7%) of the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, followed by 16(13.8%) of the patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 20(11.4%) of asthmatic patients (P value < 0.05). Among the positive COVID asthmatic patients the common age groups were 25 – 34 years and 35 – 44 years, while among COPD and IPF patients the prevalence was higher among patients aged 55 years and above (P value < 0.05). In the COPD and IPF patients, the prevalence of COVID 19 was significantly higher among males than in females (P value < 0.05).
Conclusion: The study concluded that among the patients presented with acute exacerbations was higher among patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than patients with asthma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
