Lockdown helped kids with asthma study shows

Children with asthma showed short-term improvement of their symptoms during the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus in spring last year, a joint study of the universities of Cyprus and Greece has found.

The study, Pediatric asthma morbidity during lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020: A prospective community-based study in Cyprus and Greece, which was part of the European LIFE-MEDEA programme, showed lower morbidity in 119 asthmatic children from Greece and Cyprus during the lockdown.

“There was a significant improvement in asthma symptoms, which was greater in children with more serious asthma,” a written statement said. “The improvement was statistically correlated with the time the children stayed at home, as recorded by geo-location sensors (GPS) on smart watches worn by the children throughout the study period.”

The improvement was confirmed by comparing the findings of the study with a similar study conducted during the same period in 2019.

The study also found there was a significant reduction in the use of asthma medicines, and drops in the frequency of respiratory infections, and emergency visits for acute asthmatic episodes.

However, scientists also stressed that the negative effects of the restrictions on the children’s mental health cannot be overlooked, while the protracted stay at home can lead to less physical exercise and increased use of electronic devices.