Naturally, those whose immune systems react adversely to either external or internal triggers as they do in food allergy, other allergies, and the auto-immune condition coeliac disease, will be especially worried about the international pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19. Ditto those with asthma, especially, and eczema, given the hand-washing advice.
The charities and allergy organisations have to varying degrees responded to the anxieties of their members, and here are links to what they have to say. I’ll aim to keep this page updated as much as possible. Suggested links very welcome.
United Kingdom
Coeliac UK. The charity made this statement on 11th March, and have published this coeliac disease and coronavirus information page. It’s good that they are making contingency plans to keep their service going through the anticipated problems in coming weeks and months.
Asthma UK. The charity has a regularly updated section on the coronavirus COVID-19 which you can find here.
National Eczema Society. The charity for eczema and dermatitis has issued this advice for people with eczema, focusing on hand-washing.
Allergy UK. On the 13th March, the charity for all allergies in the UK issued this advice around allergy and coronavirus COVID-19, focusing on preparedness in those with hay fever and also allergic asthma.
The Anaphylaxis Campaign has also today issued this advice.
Guts UK have issued this information for people with conditions affecting the GI system (ie Crohn’s disease, IBD etc).
Crohn’s and Colitis UK have issued this guidance, which also helpfully provides a link to MIND for ideas to maintain mental health and wellbeing.
The IBS Network has issued this support to its members.
United States
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America have issued this advice.
The National Eczema Association have stated that they are working on ‘educational content’ concerning COVID-19. I’ll update when published.
The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology have published a podcast, Coronavirus Disease 2019: What Healthcare Professionals and Patients Need to Know.
Celiac Disease Foundation. Read their advice here.
Beyond Celiac have a page dedicated to the coronavirus COVID-19 which is being regularly updated. Find it here.
Other Information
This from Health.com — Allergies Vs. Coronavirus: How to Tell the Difference — may be useful.
This from Allergic Living Magazine — Coronavirus & Asthma: How to Cut Risks — is also very good.
Those with allergic contact dermatitis may also find this post useful — Coronavirus and allergic contact dermatitis — which I wrote for my website dedicated to allergy to methylisothiazolinone preservative.