WEDNESDAY, May 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) Young to middle-aged asthmatics who are hospitalized for COVID-19 are likely to be on a ventilator longer than patients without asthma, new research reports.

Patients with asthma who were between 20 and 59 years of age needed a ventilator to help with breathing five days longer than patients without asthma in that age group, researchers reported.

"Among the patients who developed severe respiratory symptoms requiring intubation [the use of a ventilator], asthma was associated with a significantly longer intubation time in the younger group of patients who would seemingly have a better disease course than patients over the age of 65," said lead author Dr. Mahboobeh Mahdavinia. She's chief of allergy and immunology in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

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