People with asthma avoiding hospitals due to Covid-19 fear

Jenny Curran, originally from Wicklow, has a rare form of severe asthma known as brittle asthma. She is taking part in the Love your Lungs challenge this week to raise funds for research into asthma. Picture: Moya Nolan

Asthmatics are still avoiding hospitals due to a fear of catching Covid-19, with some people going without emergency medical help during asthma attacks. 

Interim chief executive of the Asthma Society of Ireland Sarah O’Connor said asthmatics understand what it means to struggle to breathe, so the reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic was quite extreme.

Before the pandemic, someone with asthma attended an emergency department every four minutes on average. There were 8,000 asthma-related hospital admissions in 2019.

Data shows an asthmatic dies every six days — the highest death rate of 14 EU countries where it is measured.

“Some of what we hear is quite worrying because some people have been avoiding hospital if they have an asthma emergency because they are afraid of contracting Covid if they go to hospital,” said Ms O'Connor.

That is a major point of concern for us.” 

When the pandemic hit, the Health Products Regulatory Body appealed to asthmatics to avoid stockpiling medication.

A more common reaction, said Ms O’Connor, was strict isolation and she described the last year as “challenging” on many fronts.

“We are quite apprehensive about the idea that people are experiencing a serious asthma attack, they would feel the need to go to A&E but fear means they are not going,” said Ms O’Connor.

She urged asthmatics to attend for treatment especially now that society is reopening and the vaccination programme is rolling out.

“What we would see now this year is that some of the carefulness has diminished as people get used to living with Covid, and that is another point of concern for us,” she said.

“So for Asthma Awareness Week, we want to say to people that asthma can be a life-threatening illness but you can do so much to manage it.” 

There are 380,000 asthmatics in Ireland. One in five children experience asthma at some point but they can “grow out of” some types of the disease.

Brittle asthma

Other types, such as brittle asthma, are much more serious. Jenny Curran, 25, is one of 0.05% of asthmatics with this illness.

This severe asthma flares up almost without warning and frequently leads to prolonged hospitalisation.

She has spent the pandemic cocooning with her 87-year old grandfather in Dublin. 

In December 2019, Ms Curran returned to Dublin from Australia, her first visit in six years.

“On Christmas Eve, I was in the pub with my friends. Then I got home and I had a massive asthma attack. Ended up in an ambulance up to Vincent's, and then didn’t get out until the end of February,” she said.

During the two months, she regularly needed high flow oxygen therapy but says she escaped needing a ventilator.

“When I have a big attack it can take six months to a year to get back to normal. When I’m okay, I pack it in, go rock climbing and roller-skating. You don’t know when it could come back,” she said.

Ms Curran is taking part in the Love your Lungs challenge this week to raise funds for research into asthma.

• More information on Asthma Awareness Week: www.asthma.ie.