A new study suggests that higher COVID-19 vaccination rates are associated with a lower prevalence of parent-reported childhood asthma symptoms. The findings were published online on July 3 in JAMA Network Open.

The research, conducted by Dr. Matthew M. Davis from Nemours Children's Health in Wilmington, Delaware, and Dr. Lakshmi K. Halasyamani from Endeavor Health in Evanston, Illinois, explored the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination rates and childhood asthma symptoms.

The study aimed to determine if symptomatic asthma is linked to population-level COVID-19 mortality and whether this association is influenced by COVID-19 primary vaccination rates and state face mask mandates.

The researchers analyzed state-level changes in parent-reported childhood asthma symptom prevalence between 2018-2019 and 2020-2021. They found a significant decrease in the mean state-level prevalence of childhood asthma symptoms, dropping from 7.77 percent in 2018-2019 to 6.93 percent in 2020-2021, with an absolute mean change score of -0.85 percentage points.

During the same period, the mean age-adjusted state-level COVID-19 mortality rate increased from 80.3 per 100,000 population in 2020 to 99.3 per 100,000 in 2021. By December 2021, the mean state-level COVID-19 primary vaccination rate reached 72.3 percent. Notably, the study revealed that parent-reported childhood asthma symptoms decreased by 0.36 percentage points for every 10 percent increase in COVID-19 vaccination coverage. However, no significant association was found between childhood asthma symptoms and state-level COVID-19 mortality rates or face mask requirements.

The authors concluded that higher COVID-19 vaccination rates might offer protection against symptomatic asthma in children. They suggest that COVID-19 vaccination provides prophylactic benefits against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection for individual children and may also protect against other human coronaviruses through cross-reactive antibody responses.