[Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma - Addendum 2020 - Guideline of the German Respiratory Society and the German Atemwegsliga in Cooperation with the Paediatric Respiratory Society and the Austrian Society of Pneumology]

[Innovations of the GINA 2020 for Children and the Effects of COVID-19 on Children with Asthma]

In the years 2019-2021, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) recommended some fundamental changes in the management of patients with asthma, that also affect school children and adolescents. A very significant new recommendation is that for safety, short-acting β2-agonists (SABA) should now be given in combination with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). In adolescents, GINA steps 1 and 2 are combined and a low-dose ICS formoterol combination as needed is recommended for asthma problems. Alternatively, separation into step 1, with inhalation of SABA and an ICS as needed, and step 2, with daily inhalation of an ICS and SABA as needed, as before, is recommended. This path is suggested as the preferred treatment in children aged 6-11 years. However, these recommendations have not been adopted by all national and international guidelines, because the evidence is weak, especially in children. Tiotropium, mepolizumab, and dupilumab were added to the therapy for severe asthma.Children with asthma do not become ill with COVD-19 more often or more severely than children without asthma. Various mechanisms, such as a possible protective effect of type 2 inflammation, the antiviral and immunomodulatory effects of ICS, and the downregulation of ACE2 receptors by allergic sensitization could be responsible for this.