Air pollution linked with more severe COVID-19, study finds
The Hindu
The researchers modelled historical exposure to three common air pollutants before the pandemic - fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone
Common air pollutants, such as small particulate matter and ground-level ozone, are associated with more severe outcomes after COVID-19 infection, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), according to a study.
The research, published on May 24 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analysed data on 1,51,105 people aged 20 years and older with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020 in Ontario, Canada, not living in a long-term care facility.
The researchers modelled historical exposure to three common air pollutants before the pandemic - fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3).
They adjusted for date of diagnosis, sex and age, being part of an outbreak, essential worker status, neighbourhood socioeconomic status, health care access including previous influenza vaccination history, previous outpatient visits and other factors.
The study identified 8,630, 1,912 and 2,137 COVID-19-related hospital admissions, ICU admissions, and deaths, respectively.
The median times between first diagnosis and hospital admission, ICU admission and death were 5 days, 8 days and 15 days, respectively, the researchers said.
"We observed that people with SARS-CoV-2 infection who lived in areas of Ontario with higher levels of common air pollutants were at elevated risk of being admitted to the ICU after we adjusted for individual and contextual confounding factors, even when the air pollution level was relatively low," said Hong Chen from Health Canada, the department of the Government of Canada.
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