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En español | It makes sense that the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 could present a serious menace to those who suffer from asthma — which inflames and narrows airways, making breathing difficult. And since the early days of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that people with moderate to severe asthma may be at higher than average risk for severe illness from the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

But several months into the pandemic, medical experts say that the numbers tell a somewhat different story. “Asthma really hasn’t shaken out to be a significant risk factor,” says Benjamin J. Seides, M.D., director of interventional pulmonology at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital.