Atmospheric conditions affecting the transmission of COVID-19 virus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20210850Keywords:
COVID-19, Air pollution, Smoking, Atmospheric conditions, Physical environment, Meteorological factorsAbstract
The physical environment plays an important role in the transmission of respiratory infections like COVID-19. Atmospheric conditions associated to diseases like influenza, adenovirus infections, parainfluenza, common cold viruses and so on. But we are still lacking in evidence to support the influence of meteorological conditions in spreading COVID-19. We have discussed air pollution, smoking, low air temperature, and proximity to equator, low humidity and air velocity as contributing factors in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through this narrative synthesis. Bio-aerosol or ultra-fine particulate matter seems to be the most promising mode of transmission of COVID-19. Other methods are direct contact and droplet infection. Air pollution control can prevent priming of respiratory system which shall further protect from pulmonary infections. Air sanitization and humidifiers can be considered to modify the indoor air and prevent contracting infection at workplaces, schools and other gatherings.
References
Rogliani P, Calzetta L, Coppola A, Puxeddu E, Sergiacomi G, D’Amato D, et al. Are there pulmonary sequelae in patients recovering from COVID-19? Respir Res. 2020;21:286.
Frumkin H. Environmental Health from Global to Local. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2016.
Cai QC, Lu J, Xu QF, Guo Q, Xu DZ, Sun QW, et al. Influence of meteorological factors and air pollution on the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Public Health. 2007;121(4):258-65.
Qu G, Li X, Hu L, Jiang G. An Imperative Need for Research on the Role of Environmental Factors in Transmission of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Environ Sci Technol. 2020;0-2.
Park K. Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine. 25th ed. Jabalpur: M/s Banarsidas Bhanot. 2019.
Conticini E, Frediani B, Caro D. Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy? Environmental Pollution. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114465.
Longhin E, Holme JA, Gualtieri M, Camatini M, Øvrevik J. Milan winter fine particulate matter (wPM2.5) induces IL-6 and IL-8 synthesis in human bronchial BEAS-2B cells, but specifically impairs IL-8 release. Toxicol. 2018;52:365-373.
Yongjian Z, Jingu X, Fengming H, Liqing C. Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 infection: Evidence from China. Science of the Total Environment. Journal Pre-Proof. 2020, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138704.
Buono MGD, Iannaccone G, Camilli M, Buono R D, Aspromonte N. The Italian Outbreak of COVID-19: Conditions, Contributors, and Concerns. Mayo Clinic Proc; 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.04.003.
NHC (National Health Commission, China), 2020a. Pneumonia diagnosis and treatment of 2019-nCoV infection from Chinese NHC and CDC 2020. Available at: http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/zhengcwj/202002/8334a8326dd94d329df351d7da8aefc2/files/b218cfeb1bc54639af227f922bf6b817.pdf.
Setti L, Passarini F, De Gennaro G, Di Gilio A, Palmisani J, Buono P, et al. Position Paper Relazione circa l’effetto dell’inquinamento da particolato atmosferico e la diffusione di virus nella popolazione. SIMA - Società Italiana di Medicina Ambientale; 2020:1-5. Available at: http://www.simaonlus.it/wpsima/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ COVID19_Position-Paper_Relazione-circa-l’effetto- dell’inquinamento-da-particolato-atmosferico-e-la-diffusione-di- virus-nella-popolazione.pdf.
Coker ES, Cavalli L, Fabrizi E, Guastella G, Lippo E, Parisi ML, et al. The effects of Air Pollution on COVID-19 Related Mortality in Northern Italy. Environmental and Resource Economics. 2020;76:611-34. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00486-1.
Ishii H, Fujii T, Hogg JC. Contribution of IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha to the initiation of the peripheral lung response to atmospheric particulates (PM10). Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2004;287(1):176-83.
Xu H, Yan C, Fu Q, Xiao K, Yu Y, Han D, et al. Science of the Total Environment. 2020;731:139211.
Comunian S, Dongo D, Milani C, Palestini P. Air Pollution and COVID-19: The role of Particulate Matter in the Spread and Increase of COVID-19’s Morbidity and Mortality. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:4487.
Cole MA, Ozgen C, Strobl E. Air Pollution Exposure and COVID-19. IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Deutsche Post Foundation. 2020. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3628242.
Hu H, Nigmatulina K, Eckho P. The scaling of contact rates with population density for the infectious disease models. Mathematical Biosciences. 2013;244(2):125-34.
Tang JW. The effect of environmental parameters on the survival of airborne infectious agents. J.R. Soc. Interface 6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2009.0227.focus.
Zhu Y, Jingu X, Fengming H, Liqing C. Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 infection: evidence from China. Sci. Total Environ. 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138704.
Huraimel KA, Alhosani M, Kunhabdulla S, Stietiya MH. SARS-CoV-2 in the environment: Modes of transmission, early detection and potential role of pollutions. Sci Total Environ. 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140946.
Bhat TA, Panzica L, Kalathil SG, Thanavala Y. Immune Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2015;12(2):169-75.
Eapen MS, Sharma P, Moodley YP, Hansbro PM, Sohal SS. Dysfunctional Immunity and Microbial Adhesion Molecules in Smoking-Induced Pneumonia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019;199:250-51.
Han L, Ran J, Mak YW, Suen LK, Lee PH, Peiris JSM, et al. Smoking and Influenza-associated Morbidity and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Epidemiology. 2019;30:405-17.
Kelly FJ. Influence of air pollution on respiratory disease. EMJ Respir. 2014;2:96-103.
Leo DD, Trabucchi M. COVID-19 and the Fears of Italian Senior Citizens. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:3572.
Zhi K, Wang L, Han Y, Vaughn MG, Qian Z, Chen Y, et al. Trends in Cigarette Smoking Among Older Male Adults in China: An Urban-Rural Comparison. J Appl Gerontol. 2019;38:884-901.
Brake SJ, Barnsley K, Lu W, McAlinden KD, Eapen MS, Sohal SS. Smoking Upregulates Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 Receptor: A Potential Adhesion Site for Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19). J Clin Med. 2020;9(3):841.
Sun K, Chen J, Viboud C. Early epidemiological analysis of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak based on crowdsourced data: A population-level observational study. Lancet Digit Health. 2020.
Engina AB, Enginb ED, Enginc A. Two important controversial risk factors in SARS-CoV-2 infection: Obesity and smoking. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology. 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2020.103411.
Guan WJ, Ni ZY, Hu Y, Liang WH, Ou CQ, He JX, et al. China Medical Treatment Expert Group forCovid-19, 2020. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019. China N Engl J Med. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032.
Zhao Y, Zhao Z, Wang Y, Zhou Y, Ma Y, Zuo W. Single-cell RNA expression profiling of ACE2, the putative receptor of Wuhan 2019-nCov. BioRxiv 2020.
Rossato M, Russo L, Mazzocut S. Current smoking is not associated with COVID-19. Eur Respir J. 2020;55:2001290.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare warns against the use of any tobacco products. This is in concurrence with the WHO statement on tobacco use and COVID-19. Available at: https:// www. who.int /news-room/detail/11-05-2020-who-statement-tobacco-use-and-covid-19. Accessed on 11 May 2020.
Dowell SF, Ho MS. Seasonality of infectious diseases and severe acute respiratory syndrome -what we don’t know can hurt us. Lancet Infect Dis. 2004;4:704-8.
Hendley JO, Fishburne HB, Gwaltney JM. Coronavirus infections in working adults. Eight-year study with 229E and OC43. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1972;105:805-11.
Sloan C, Ph D, Moore ML, Ph D, Hartert T. Review Articles Impact of Pollution, Climate, and Sociodemographic Factors on Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Seasonal Respiratory Viruses. 2010;4(1).
Eslami H, Jalili M. The role of environmental factors to transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). AMB Expr. 2020;10:92.
Whittemore PB. COVID-19 fatalities, latitude, sunlight, and vitamin D. American J Infection Control. 2020;48:1042-44.
Priyadarsini SL, Suresh M. Factors influencing the epidemiological characteristics of pandemic COVID-19: A TISM approach Factors in fluencing the epidemiological characteristics of pandemic COVID-19. Int J Healthc Manag. 2020;0(0):1-10.
Pica N, Bouvier NM. Environmental factors affecting the transmission of respiratory viruses. Current Opinion Virology. 2012;2:90-95.
Yang W, Marr LC. Dynamics of Airborne Influenza A Viruses Indoors and Dependence on Humidity. Plos One. 2011;6(6).
Casanova LM, Jeon S, Rutala WA, Weber DJ, Sobsey MD, Carolina N, et al. Effects of Air Temperature and Relative Humidity on Coronavirus Survival on Surfaces. 2010;76(9):2712-7.
