Air pollution major factor in high death rate due to Covid-19
NEWDELHI: Air pollution is likely to be a major risk factor for Covid-19 mortality, scientists have concluded.
Prolonged exposure to air pollution leads to a chronic inflammatory response even among the young and healthy which makes people living in polluted areas more susceptible to developing chronic respiratory conditions. This theory is borne out by the high Covid-19-related death rates in northern Italy compared to the rest of the country, environmental scientists and physicians have concluded.
In a paper titled “Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high-level of SARS-COV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?” published in Elsevier’s journal of Environmental Pollution on April 4, the scientists pointed that the mortality was 12% in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, as compared to 4.5% in the rest of the country. This region is one of
Europe’s most polluted based on data from Ozone Monitoring Instrument on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’S Aura satellite.
The data indicates that there is stagnation of pollutants in the region because of geographical and climatic factors. A review of air quality index (AQI), which is calculated based on concentrations of particulate matter and other gases, is also the worst for this region in Italy.
“Air pollution represents one of the most well-known causes of prolonged inflammation, eventually leading to an innate immune system hyper-activation,” the study by scientists at the rheumatology unit of the University of Siena and departmental of environmental science at Arhaus University said. The authors explained how pollutants impact the human immune response.
The paper has concluded that pollution impairs the first line of defence which is why people in polluted areas are more likely to develop chronic conditions.