COVID-19 Tied to Higher Risk for Inflammatory Diseases of the Airways

THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People who have had COVID-19 have an increased risk for developing certain new-onset type 2 inflammatory diseases of the airways, while receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine reduces the risk, according to a study published online Aug. 12 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Henning Olbrich, M.D., from University of Lübeck in Germany, and colleagues assessed the risk for new-onset type 2 inflammatory diseases after COVID-19 infection and vaccination. The analysis included electronic health record data for individuals with COVID-19 infection (973,794), individuals with COVID-19 vaccination (691,270), and unexposed controls (4,388,409).

The researchers found that COVID-19 infection significantly increased the risks for asthma (hazard ratio [HR], 1.656), allergic rhinitis (HR, 1.272), and chronic rhinosinusitis (HR, 1.744). There were no changes for risks for atopic dermatitis or eosinophilic esophagitis. Receipt of COVID-19 vaccination lowered the risks for asthma (HR, 0.678) and chronic rhinosinusitis (HR, 0.799). When directly comparing COVID-19 infection versus vaccination, there was a twofold to threefold greater risk for respiratory type 2 inflammatory diseases with infection.

“Our results suggest that COVID-19 can trigger type 2 inflammation in the airways but not in other organs,” coauthor Philip Curman, M.D., Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to TriNetX.

Abstract/Full Text