Protective Effect of Allergen Immunotherapy in Patients With Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Against COVID-19 Infection: Observational, Nationwide, and Multicenter Study

Rundong Qin   ^{1 *} , MD ;   Yan Feng   ^{2 *} , MD ;   Huanping Zhang   ^{3 *} , MD ;   Beibei Zhao   ^{4 *} , MD ;   Wei Lei   ^{5 *} , MD ;   Hongying Sun   ^{6 *} , MD ;   Lili Zhi   ^{7 *} , MD ;   Zhongsheng Zheng   ^{8 *} , MD ;   Siqin Wang   ^{9 *} , MD ;   Yafeng Yu   ^{10 *} , MD ;   Shengxue Jiang   ^{11 *} , MD ;   Changshan Liu   ^{12 *} , MD ;   Xingkai Ma   ^{13 *} , MD ;   Hui Ma   ^{14 *} , MD ;   Huiying Wang   ^{15 *} , MD ;   Hang Lin   ^{16 *} , MD ;   Qiaojie He   ^{17 *} , MD ;   Lingying Wu   ^{18 *} , MD ;   Yingying Zhai   ^{19 *} , MD ;   Honglue Lu   ^{20 *} , MD ;   Shi Chen   ^{21 *} , MD ;   Yan Ma   ^{22 *} , MD ;   Xiaohong Jin   ^{23 *} , MD ;   Shan Deng   ^{17 *} , MD ;   Nanshan Zhong   ^{24 *} , MD ;   Ruchong Chen   ^{1 *} , MD, PhD ;   Jing Li   ^{1 *} , MD

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China

² Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

³ Department of Allergology, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Science, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi, China

⁴ Department of Allergy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Liaoning, China

⁵ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China

⁶ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

⁷ Department of Allergy, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Institute of Respiratory Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

⁸ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China

⁹ Department of Allergy, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

¹⁰ Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China

¹¹ Department of Allergy, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning, China

¹² Department of Pediatrics, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Children’s Respiratory and Asthma Research Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

¹³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Affiliated Zhangjiagang Hospital of Soochow University, Zhangjiagang, China

¹⁴ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

¹⁵ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China

¹⁶ Department of Allergy, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

¹⁷ Department of Allergy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China

¹⁸ Department of Allergy, The Third People’s Hospital of Datong, Datong, China

¹⁹ Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

²⁰ Department of Otolaryngology, Suzhou Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Suzhou, China

²¹ Center for Prevention and Treatment of Pediatric Asthma, Hainan General Hospital, Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China

²² Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China

²³ Department of Pediatrics, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou, China

²⁴ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

*all authors contributed equally