Environmental Determinants of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (original) (raw)

Air pollution by NO2 and PM2.5 explains COVID-19 infection severity by overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in respiratory cells: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters

Many major cities that witnessed heavy air pollution by nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and particulate matter (PM) have experienced a high rate of infection and severity of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This phenomenon could be explained by the overexpression of the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) on epithelial cell surfaces of the respiratory tract. Indeed, ACE-2 is a receptor for coronaviruses including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV), and ACE-2 is overexpressed under chronic exposure to air pollution such as NO 2 and PM 2.5. In this review, we explain that ACE-2 acts as the sole receptor for the attachment of the SARS-CoV-2 via its spike protein. The fact that respiratory and vascular epithelial cells express ACE-2 has been previously observed during the 2003 epidemic of the SARS-CoV-1 in China, and during the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome in Saudi Arabia. High ACE-2 expression in respiratory epithelial cells under air pollution explains the positive correlation between the severity in COVID-19 patients and elevated air pollution, notably high NO 2 and PM 2.5 levels. Specific areas in India, China, Italy, Russia, Chile and Qatar that experience heavy air pollution also show high rates of COVID-19 infection and severity. Overall, we demonstrate a link between NO 2 emissions, PM 2.5 levels, ACE-2 expression and COVID-19 infection severity. Therefore, air pollution should be reduced in places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are unexpectedly high.

A Correlation among the COVID-19 Spread, Particulate Matters, and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2: A Review

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Air pollution (AP) is one of the leading causes of health risks because it causes widespread morbidity and mortality every year. Its impact on the environment includes acid rain and decreased visibility, but more importantly, it also has an impact on human health. The rise of COVID-19 demonstrates the cost of failing to manage AP. COVID-19 can be spread through the air, and atmospheric particulate matters (PMs) can create a good atmosphere for the long-distance spread of the virus. Moreover, these PMs can cause lung cell inflammation, thereby increasing sensitivity and the severity of symptoms in COVID-19 patients. In this study, we emphasized the potential role of PMs in the spread of COVID-19. The relationship among COVID-19, PMs, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) (receptor involved in virus entry into lung cells and inflammation) was also summarized.

Evidence-Based Considerations Exploring Relations between SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Air Pollution: Involvement of PM2.5-Mediated Up-Regulation of the Viral Receptor ACE-2

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

The COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck health, social and economic systems worldwide, and represents an open challenge for scientists —coping with the high inter-individual variability of COVID-19, and for policy makers —coping with the responsibility to understand environmental factors affecting its severity across different geographical areas. Air pollution has been warned of as a modifiable factor contributing to differential SARS-CoV-2 spread but the biological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon are still unknown. Air quality and COVID-19 epidemiological data from 110 Italian provinces were studied by correlation analysis, to evaluate the association between particulate matter (PM)2.5 concentrations and incidence, mortality rate and case fatality risk of COVID-19 in the period 20 February–31 March 2020. Bioinformatic analysis of the DNA sequence encoding the SARS-CoV-2 cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) was performed to identify consensus motifs for transcr...

Impact of air pollution and smoking on COVID-19: a review

The Egyptian Journal of Bronchology

Background The 21st century already witnessed many deadly epidemics and pandemics. The major ones were respiratory tract infections like SARS (2003), H1N1 (2009), MERS (2012) and the most recent pandemic COVID-19 (2019). The COVID-19 story begins when pneumonia of unknown cause was reported in the WHO country office of China at the end of 2019. SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent that enters the host through the receptor ACE2, a component of the renin–angiotensin system. Main body of the abstract Symptoms of COVID-19 varies from patient to patient. It is all about the immunity and health status of the individual that decides the severity of the disease. The review focuses on the significant and often prevailing factors, those that influence the lung function. The factors that compromise the lung functions which may prepare the ground for severe COVID-19 infection are interestingly looked into. Focus was more on air pollution and cigarette smoke. Short conclusion The fact that the fore...

Potential link between compromised air quality and transmission of the novel corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) in affected areas

Environmental Research, 2020

Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre-including this research content-immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

The Impact of Ambient Air Pollution Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid19): A Literature Review

JURNAL KESEHATAN LINGKUNGAN

Introduction: WHO has announced coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid19) as a global pandemic at the immune decline, one of which is due to chronic exposure to ambient air pollution. This literature review aims to describe the impact of ambient air pollution toward the risk of being infected by Covid19. Discussion: Covid19 can be found in a bat (host primer), and can be contagious through a person, also possible from pets. The symptoms that sufferers will perceive are fever, cough, diarrhea, myalgia, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomit, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and some asymptomatic people. The body’s immunity affects a person’s susceptibility to Covid19 infection. The body’s immunity can be affected by ambient air pollution (with PM10, PM2,5, and O3 are the most pollutant in the air in various countries) for an extended period could be the reason for chronic illness (especially, respiratory tract) could reduce immune resistance. Furthermore, it might be happened on increasing at AC...

Exposure to air pollution and COVID‐19 severity: A review of current insights, management, and challenges

Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2021

Several epidemiological studies have suggested a link between air pollution and respiratory tract infections. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a great threat to public health worldwide. However, some parts of the globe have been worse affected in terms of prevalence and deaths than others. The causes and conditions of such variations have yet to be explored. Although some studies indicated a possible correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 severity, there is yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer. This review summarizes the impact of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and severity and discusses the possible management strategies and challenges involved. The available literature investigating the correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality are included in the review. The studies reviewed here suggest that exposure to air pollution, particularly to PM 2.5 and NO 2 , is positively correlated with COVID-19 infections and mortality. Some data indicate that air pollution can play an important role in the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. A high percentage of COVID-19 incidences has been reported in the most polluted areas, where patients needed hospital admission. The available data also show that both short-term and long-term air pollution may enhance COVID-19 severity. However, most of the studies that showed a link between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality did not consider potential confounders during the correlation analysis. Therefore, more specific studies need to be performed focusing on some additional confounders such as individual age, population density, and pre-existing comorbidities to determine the impact of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and deaths. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;00:1-9.

Covid19 and environmental factors a prismacompliant systematic review

The emergence of a novel human coronavirus, SARSCoV- 2, has become a global health concern causing severe respiratory tract infections to humans. Humanto- human transmissions have been described with incubation times between 2-10 days, facilitating its airborne spread via droplets. The impact of environmental factors on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is under consideration. Therefore, we reviewed the literature on all available information about the impact of environmental factors on human and veterinary coronaviruses. Temperature, humidity and other environmental factors have been recorded as environmental drivers of the COVID-19 outbreak in China and in other countries. It is also reported that, higher temperatures might be positive to decrease the COVID-19 incidence. In our review, the analysis of 23 studies show evidence that high temperature and high humidity reduce the COVID-19 transmission. However, further studies concerning the role of other environmental (namely meteorological) factors should be conducted in order to prove this correlation. As no specific therapies are available for SARS-CoV-2, early containment and prevention of further spread will be crucial to stop the ongoing outbreak and to control this novel infectious threat.

COVID-19 higher morbidity and mortality in Chinese regions with lower air quality

2020

We investigated the geographical character of the COVID-19 infection in China and correlated it with satellite- and ground-based measurements of air quality. Controlling for population size, we found more viral infections in those areas afflicted by high Carbon Monoxide, formaldehyde, PM 2.5, and Nitrogen Dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. Air pollution appears to be a risk factor for the incidence of this disease, similar to smoking. This suggests the detrimental impact of air pollution in these types of respiratory epidemics.Short summaryThere is a significant correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 spread and mortality in China.The correlation stands at a second-order administration level, after controlling for varying population densities and removing Wuhan and Hubei from the dataset.Living in an area with low air quality is a risk factor for becoming infected and dying from this new form of coronavirus.