Benefits of Covid boosters seen in people with severe asthma

New research has shown that people with severe asthma are well protected when boosting Covid vaccines.

People with severe asthma didn’t develop the same level of protection as others after two vaccine doses in the study.

However, they had similar and good levels of antibodies following a booster.

The new insights are important because these patients may be at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19.

The SHINE study involved asthma experts from Southampton, London and Glasgow. It was funded by the Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Research (AAIR) Charity in Southampton and AstraZeneca, and supported by the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).

Dr Hitasha Rupani, Lead of the Severe Asthma Service at University Hospital Southampton (UHS), led the study.

She is a UHS Research Leaders Programme award holder and part of the NIHR Southampton BRC.

Three doses needed

Severe asthma affects around 5-10% of people with asthma.

Almost 200 volunteers were recruited from across the UK for this study. This included 129 people with severe asthma and 57 people without the condition. It took place during the height of the pandemic.

A blood sample was collected from each of the volunteers. They were given a finger-prick test to use at home and return by post to a laboratory in London.

Results show that after two doses of the vaccine, people with severe asthma had lower antibody levels compared to people without asthma.

It was only after three doses that people with severe asthma had similar levels of protection to people without asthma.

Dr Rupani is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at UHS. She said:

“During the pandemic, people with severe asthma were very concerned about developing COVID. They were also worried that they may not receive full protection from COVID-19 vaccines and that their asthma medications may affect how well the vaccines worked for them.”

“Our findings reinforce the importance of booster vaccines for these people.”

The results appear in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

Important insights

Many people with severe asthma take medications to help control their symptoms, such as steroids and biologics.

The study found that neither treatment affected people’s immune response to the vaccines.

Analysis also showed that people with severe asthma were less likely to catch COVID-19.

The researchers suggest that this may reflect more stringent public health practices in this group, such as good hygiene and social distancing.

Co-author Professor Ratko Djukanovic is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Southampton. He said:

“These are important findings that can help reassure people with severe asthma and teams who care for them.”

SHINE is short for the Severe astHma COVID vacciNe rEsponse study.