{"id":25817,"date":"2021-05-05T16:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T14:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=25817"},"modified":"2021-05-14T00:41:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T22:41:53","slug":"adherence-to-the-recommended-precautions-and-vaccination-of-patients-with-severe-asthma-is-of-paramount-importance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2021\/05\/adherence-to-the-recommended-precautions-and-vaccination-of-patients-with-severe-asthma-is-of-paramount-importance\/","title":{"rendered":"Recommended precautions and vaccination are essential for patients with severe asthma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>\u201c<span lang=\"en-US\">In <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">the case of <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">patients with severe or inadequately treated asthma, COVID-19 infection may be more severe and pose a higher risk. Therefore, in their case it is of paramount importance to follow the recommended precautions and to be vaccinated\u201d, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">highlighted Dr. Lilla Tam\u00e1si, Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of Pulmonology at Semmelweis University on the occasion of World Asthma Day on 5 May. <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">During the epidemic, the <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">appropriate <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">treatment<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> of the disease and the regular use of inhalers are very important. There are about 310,000 asthmatic patients in Hungary, an estimated 5-10% have severe asthma.<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u201c<span lang=\"en-US\">The exact causes of asthma are not known, but hereditary, genetic traits are likely to play a<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">n important<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> role. Living in cities <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">and <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">the negative effects of civilization also factors increasing the incidence of the disease. Asthma is a persistent inflammatory disease of the lower respiratory tract with symptoms such as choking, coughing, shortness of breath, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">wheezing caused by bronchospasm, and <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">a humming <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">noise <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">in the chest. These often occur only at dawn or during exercise, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">therefore, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">asthma is considered a variable disease where asymptomatic and symptomatic periods alternate\u201d, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">said Dr. Lilla Tam\u00e1si, Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of Pulmonology.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fontos_div\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\">The disease has varying degrees of severity, and air pollution, pollens, respiratory viral infections, mental stress, exercise, and allergens may be responsible for the severity of the symptoms. Some adults with asthma also have allergies, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">therefore<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> it is particularly important for patients to consult their <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">physician<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> to get an exact diagnosis and find out the real cause of the symptoms. While allergies can be seasonal, asthma is an incurable, chronic health problem but treatment can help ease the symptoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\">The diagnosis is set up by a specialist, using respiratory function tests, which are available specialized pulmonary outpatient clinics <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">throughout Hungary.<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> The <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">o<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">utpatient <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">c<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">linic <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">for patients with severe asthma<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> at the Department of Pulmonology <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">of<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> Semmelweis University accepts patients by prior appointment with a <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">physician. C<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">onsultation and referral can be <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">provided<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> by a pulmonologist <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">at<\/span> <span lang=\"en-US\">a <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">pulmonology outpatient clinic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><a href=\"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/files\/2021\/05\/RS56283_KA-20161130-KA__0374-scr-267x400-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-25815\" src=\"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/files\/2021\/05\/RS56283_KA-20161130-KA__0374-scr-267x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a>Dr. Lilla Tam\u00e1si emphasized that in the current epidemic situation, asthmatic patient<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">s<\/span> <span lang=\"en-US\">infected with<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> COVID-19 <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">should<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> keep using <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">their<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> regular inhaler. <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">In the case of a<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">sthmatic <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">patients, it may be <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">more difficult to recognize viral infection, as several symptoms may be identical to those of the underlying disease: cough, shortness of breath, chest pressure. However, properly treated patients (with regular preventive inhalation therapy) do not have a higher risk of getting infected than those who do not suffer from this respiratory disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Medical care of asthma differs from person to person, with the aim of achieving a good quality of life without symptoms and the prevention of possible seizures. <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">90%<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> of patients can become asymptomatic with appropriate <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">t<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">reatment<\/span> <span lang=\"en-US\">and adherence to the <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">so-called maintenance t<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">herapy<\/span> <span lang=\"en-US\">on a daily level<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">. Therapy is based on inhaled corticosteroid drugs. I<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">n case<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> asthmatic symptoms still occur despite <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">the <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">regular <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">application of the <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">maintenance therapy, these should be <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">treated with<\/span> <span lang=\"en-US\">the so-called <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">anticonvulsant drugs<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">which provide quick release <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">with <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">shorter <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">duration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span lang=\"en-US\">As Professor Dr. Lilla Tam\u00e1si pointed out, <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">15,000 people have severe asthma in Hungary. They will not be completely asymptomatic; sometimes they need steroids and could even be <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">hospitalized. However, due to the available treatments <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">in Hungary<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">, including modern biological therapies, the situation of patients <\/span><span lang=\"en-US\">with severe asthma<\/span><span lang=\"en-US\"> has also improved considerably.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\" align=\"left\">Eszter Csat\u00e1ri-F\u00f6ldv\u00e1ry<br \/>\nPhoto (featured image), illustration: Attila Kov\u00e1cs \u2013 Semmelweis University<br \/>\nTranslation: Katalin Ill\u00e9s-Romh\u00e1nyi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are about 310,000 asthmatic patients in Hungary, an estimated 5-10% have severe asthma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101126,"featured_media":25816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,2],"tags":[127,196,157],"class_list":["post-25817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-news","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-patient-care","tag-covid-19"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25817"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25902,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817\/revisions\/25902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}