Risk factors of COVID-19. Role of chronic respiratory diseases

COVID-19 disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has spread throughout the world It can manifest from an asymptomatic form to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) This article addresses aspects related to risk factors and comorbidities in patients with COVID-19, as well as the role of the main chronic respiratory diseases in their development and evolution, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and diffuse interstitial lung diseases (ILD) The most prevalent comorbidities in patients with COVID-19 are arterial hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular diseases In addition, it has been shown that both overweight and obesity predispose to the severity of the COVID-19 disease With regard to chronic respiratory diseases, it seems that their prevalence in patients with COVID-19 is lower than expected