Coronavirus: National Asthma Council’s Professor Peter Wark says too early to know the risk
A leading asthma expert says people with chronic respiratory illnesses shouldn’t panic but prepare for the spread of coronavirus. Here’s the important details.
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A leading asthma professional says people with chronic respiratory issues, including asthma, shouldn’t panic about the spread of coronavirus.
Professor Peter Wark, a respiratory specialist working for NSW Health and a director of the National Asthma Council, said data from the 70,000 people infected in China indicated the virus affects people with respiratory conditions particularly hard.
But he cautioned it was too soon to tell how the coronavirus would affect people with the chronic respiratory condition asthma.
“The evidence at this stage is a little bit unclear,” Prof Wark said.
“People who have chronic disease, including respiratory disease, have a higher mortality rate than those that don’t.
“Consistently people with asthma have been found to be at greater risk of having more disease.”
He looked to past viruses, such as the 2009 influenza pandemic, where asthmatics were more likely to get sick and recover quicker.
“(Asthma) was more likely to cause you to have the disease where you could get (taken) to a hospital, but … people with asthma did better and went home faster.”
Those most susceptible to the coronavirus, he said, were older people who had chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and asthma.
“There is undoubtedly a significant association between age and the severity of the illness,” he said.
“Children seem to get a very mild illness. And there were no reported deaths in children under the age of nine.”
He said people should be preparing rather than panicking.
“You have to keep this in the context of what it is at the moment. For most people, it is a mild illness.
“Containment measures have slowed the spread of the disease and its still not active in the general Australian population.
“How long that’ll be the case, I don’t know.”
He warned some scenarios could “disrupt us in terms of our society and economy”.
“It’s a serious infection where it’s easily transmitted,” he said. “We should prepare and plan for any eventuality.”
Prof Wark said people with chronic conditions should stay on top of their regular medication, and follow the general advice of routinely washing hands and covering their mouth when coughing.
The other group of people prone to contracting COVID-19 coronavirus were health care workers. Whereas the mortality rate of the coronavirus is 3.4 per cent, the percentage of
Chinese health workers dying from the disease was 6.3 per cent, he said.
“I wouldn’t be recommending people wearing masks in public at the moment,” he said.
“There is no evidence that the wearing of surgical masks will reduce transmission between people … in a community setting.
“There is some evidence of a P2 or N95 mask, when properly worn in a healthcare setting, where it will reduce the risk of transmission (of disease).”