New Delhi, December 17 (IANS). The rapid spread of COVID-19 can be largely attributed to the high infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but a new study links the high incidence and mortality rates to environmental factors, particularly PM 2.5 Is.
Researchers from the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan revealed that PM2.5 affected the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and then the severity of the disease.
Several previous studies have demonstrated an association between COVID-19 disease rates and air pollution levels. Studies indicated that PM2.5 may act as an environmental vector facilitating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
The new research, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found in mice that PM2.5 induced the protein abundance of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and then increased SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection in vitro and in vivo. .
The team said in the paper that our current results provide the first evidence in vitro and in vivo that exposure to PM2.5 increased ACE2 expression and worsened SARS-CoV-2 infection. Inhalation of PM2.5 disrupted RAS protein expression, increased protein abundance of ACE and ACE2 in the lungs of mice, and increased the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2.
Another recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives has linked air pollution to lingering Covid symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness and cognitive problems.
Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain showed that air pollution can affect the severity of acute infections. As a result, exposure to PM2A.5 and PM10 may increase the risk of COVID. The researchers said that although air pollution is not directly responsible for long Covid, it can increase the severity of initial infection, which in turn increases the risk of long Covid.
–IANS
PSK/CBT
