INCIDENCE AND GRAVITY OF COVID-19 IN PATIENTS WITH ALLERGIC RHINITIS UNDER TREATMENT WITH SUBLINGUAL IMMUNOTHERAPY

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a systemic, immunological, contagious and lethal disorder, with predominantly respiratory manifestations, caused by human infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Allergic rhinitis (AR), in turn, is an incurable and heterogeneous disease, characterized as an inflammation and/or dysfunction of the nasal lining mucosa. Immunotherapy is the only treatment that can lead to the cure of AR. It involves a programmed administration of allergen extract in effective doses, instituting a persistent immunological modification. It is necessary to know if the control of AR with immunotherapy causes any benefit in relation to COVID-19. Objective: To evaluate the incidence rate and severity of COVID-19 in patients with AR treated with sublingual immunotherapy, compared to patients with AR who have not undergone this type of treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional observational study, carried out by means of questionnaires sent by email to patients with AR undergoing treatment at the Rhinitis and Allergy Center of the Hospital Paranaense de Otorrinolaringologia, in Curitiba (Brazil), in the period from March 2020 to March 2021. The evaluation period for these questionnaires was the month of October 2021. The research project was approved by the Ethics Committee for Research in Human Beings of the Hospital Paranaense de Otorrinolaringologia. A Free and Informed Consent Term was obtained from all participants. The results obtained in the study were described as frequencies and percentages. To compare the groups defined by treatment with sublingual immunotherapy, in relation to the categorical variables, Fisher’s exact test or the chi-square test was used. Results: Twenty patients (36.4%) with confirmed COVID-19 have not undergone independent immunotherapy treatment, against eight patients (21.1%) in the immunotherapy group. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Regarding the severity of the condition, most of the patients in both groups reported symptoms, which was also not statistically significant. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference for the incidence rate of COVID-19 in patients with allergic rhinitis treated with sublingual immunotherapy, compared to patients with allergic rhinitis who have not undergone this type of treatment.