Getting high may hinder infection

CORONAVIRUS: FEWER CASES IN AREAS ABOVE 3 000M

Experts believe there are fewer entry points in ‘oxygen-starved’ people.

Latin America has become the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic but one group seems to be resisting its effects better than the rest: people in the Andes.

The Andes span 7 000km from Venezuela and Colombia down to Chilean and Argentine Patagonia in the south. The mountains rise to an average height of 4 000m with the highest peak – Argentina’s Mount Aconcagua – sitting at almost 7 000m.

But in Peru, the country with the second-most reported infections in Latin America after Brazil, just 10% of cases have been found in areas above 3 000m.

“We’ve recorded cases in cities like Cusco, Huaraz, Cajamarca, Cerro de Pasco, Abancay, Huancavelica and, indeed, there are fewer cases,” Augusto Tarazona, head of the public health commission at Peru’s Medical College, said.

“In those cities in elevated areas there are minimal cases and almost zero mortality.

“That has caught our attention.”

The same can be said of neighbouring Bolivia, where infections have mostly been concentrated in low-lying eastern areas.

“The infection rate is substantially lower in Bolivia in the high-altitude regions, like La Paz, compared to what has been recorded in low-lying areas like Santa Cruz,” said Virgilio Prieto, the ministry of health’s head of epidemiology.

For the moment, there’s no scientific explanation, but some experts claim the key is the respiratory systems of those living in an environment with less oxygen.

People who are oxygen starved may have a lower number of angiotensin-converting enzymes, which act as doors of entry for the virus, said Peruvian infectious disease specialist Eduardo Gotuzzo. So, in people living in a rarified environment, the virus may have “fewer entry points”. Tarazona said experts also postulate that people in the high Andes might have different enzyme receptors due to their permanent lack of oxygen, which “means they have a breathing system adapted to less oxygen... ”

Other studies suggest ultraviolet rays [increased at high altitude] could act as a natural steriliser. – AFP

In elevated areas there is almost zero mortality

Picture: EPA-EFE A police officer wears a mask featuring the words ‘new normal’ yesterday, while waiting for his turn during a Covid-19 swab test in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The government has imposed regulations, known as ‘New Normal’, which will be implemented in stages.