COVID-19 infection does not appear to affect the lung function of young adults, according to new research presented at the ERS International Congress

Lung function appears to be unaffected after COVID-19 infection in young adults

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2021-09-08 01:30:03

COVID-19 infection does not appear to affect the lung function of young adults, according to new research presented at the ERS International Congress today (7 September, 2021). [1]

In the first study to investigate the impact of COVID-19 infection on lung function, researchers led by Dr Ida Mogensen, a post-doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, found that even patients with asthma did not show a statistically significant deterioration in lung function, although there was a trend towards slightly lower measurements for the amount of air they could exhale forcibly in one second – known as forced expiratory air volume in one second (FEV1), which is one of the measures of lung function.

A second study presented at the congress on Sunday showed that the lung function in children and adolescents was also unimpaired after COVID-19 infection, apart from those who experienced a severe infection. [2]

Dr Mogensen said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about if and how the lung is affected after clearance of the coronavirus infection, especially in young people from the general population with less severe disease. Until now, this has not been known.”