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CLAUDIO REYES
Harvard research suggests that Covid-19 death rates in the US USA They increased where there was a high concentration of fine particles (PM2.5)
Two high levels of air pollution could increase the risk of dying from Covid-19, two studies suggest.
Dr. Maria Neira of the World Health Organization (WHO) told the BBC that countries with high levels of contamination, many in Latin America, Africa and Asia, should speed up their preparations.
Those with underlying pollution-related conditions have developed severe Covid-19 in countries with high levels.
But medical professionals say it is too early to demonstrate a direct relationship.
“We will map the most polluted cities based on our database to support national authorities in these regions so that they can prepare their epidemic response plan accordingly,” said Dr. Neira.
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Eduardo Muñoz Alvarez
The Harvard study suggests that lower levels of contamination in the years before the pandemic may have resulted in a significant decrease in Covid-19 death rates.
A study of EE. USA It suggests that Covid-19 death rates increase by approximately 15% in areas with even a small increase in levels of fine particle contamination in the years leading up to the pandemic.
“Patterns in Covid-19 mortality rates generally mimic patterns in both high population density and high [particulate matter] PM2.5 Exposure Areas, “says the Harvard University report.
These particles, 30% the diameter of a human hair, have previously been linked to health problems, including respiratory infections and lung cancer.
The Harvard study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich chair of epidemiology, air pollution linked to Covid-19’s high risk of death, Prof Annette Peters told BBC News that his findings “They are in line with previous reports on hospitalization and pneumonia mortality.” .
“It is one of the first studies to corroborate our suspicion and hypothesis that the severity of Covid-19 infection may be increased by particulate air pollution,” he said.
The report’s author, Professor Francesca Dominici, said: “We hope it helps prevent air quality from worsening, particularly when we hear that authorities are trying to relax pollution standards amid this pandemic.”
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MARCO BERTORELLO
Another study suggests a possible link between high levels of air pollution and Covid-19 deaths in northern Italy.
Another study, at the University of Siena in Italy and the University of Arhus in Denmark, suggests a possible link between high levels of air pollution and Covid-19 deaths in northern Italy.
The Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions had mortality rates of around 12%, compared to 4.5% in the rest of Italy.
The study, published in Science Direct, says: “The high level of contamination in northern Italy should be considered an additional cofactor of the high level of fatality recorded in that area.”
Population, age, different health systems and a variation in prevention policies between regions must also be taken into account.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Cesar Bugaoisan of the Association of Respiratory Care Practitioners said: “In our preliminary data, almost all people killed in the country due to the coronavirus had pre-existing conditions, most of them related to contamination from air. “
Air pollution already kills about seven million people each year, says the WHO.
And more than 90% of the world population lives in places where air pollution exceeds its reference limits, mainly in poor countries.
Many of the affected countries are in South Asia, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, according to a World Bank report last year.
The cities of Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Peru also have dangerous levels of air pollution, according to various reports from the WHO and the United Nations.
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Hindustan Times
India has the majority of cities with high levels of air pollution, according to the World Air Quality Report.
But the 2019 World Air Quality Report suggests that India has the majority of cities with high levels of air pollution.
India has recorded 521 Covid-19 deaths so far.
Dr SK Chhabra, head of the lung department at Primus Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi, said: “If we see a significant increase in the spread of the virus, people with underlying conditions due to air pollution will definitely be the most affected. ”
And the president of the Indian Public Health Foundation, Prof Srinath Reddy, said: “If air pollution has already damaged the airways and lung tissue, there is a reduced reserve to deal with the avalanche of coronavirus.”
But Dr. Rajni Kant Srivastava of the Indian Council of Medical Research said: “There is insufficient evidence and we have not carried out any such studies either.”
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Mario Tama
The cities of Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Peru also have dangerous levels of air pollution.
The 2002 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), caused by a different strain of coronavirus, infected more than 8,000 people in 26 countries and killed nearly 800.
And a 2003 University of California study in Los Angeles suggested that people in areas of high air pollution were more than twice as likely to die from the disease.
