Does solar ultraviolet radiation play a role in COVID-19 infection and deaths? An environmental ecological study in Italy

Isaia, Giancarlo; Diémoz, Henri; Maluta, Francesco; Fountoulakis, Ilias; Ceccon, Daniela; Sarra, Alcide di; Facta, S.; Fedele, F.; Lorenzetto, Giuseppe; Siani, Anna Maria; Isaia, Gianluca

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143757

Cited by 56 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…In many countries spanning multiple latitudes, clear north–south gradients 18 19 were observed with more deaths further north: France, Spain, Italy, USA (as of 10 December 2020, New York State had more deaths (35 183) than Florida (19 462), 1 despite Florida having a larger population and the highest percentage population in the USA >65 years old). Notably, Rome, the largest Italian city with a Mediterranean climate, was proportionally less affected than northern cities, 19 which have a different climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Link between COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality in continental France administrative areas and weather: an ecological study

2021

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ObjectiveTo assess the effect of a weather index on in-hospital COVID-19-linked deaths.DesignEcological study.SettingContinental France administrative areas (départements; henceforth counties). The study period, from 18 March to 30 May 2020, corresponds to the main first outbreak period in France.PopulationCOVID-19-linked in-hospital deaths.Main outcome measuresIn-hospital deaths and demographics (population, human density, male sex and population percentage >59 years old) were obtained from national and centralised public databases. County weather indexes were calculated by the French National Meteorological Agency.MethodsIn this observational ecological study, the relationship between in-hospital COVID-19-related mortality and climate zones in continental French counties were analysed, by comparing the cumulative in-hospital death tolls in France by county to other factors (population density, climate, age and sex). The study period lasted from 18 March to 30 May 2020. A multivariate linear-regression analysis of in-hospital mortality included climate zones, population density, population >59 years old and percentages of males as potential predictors. The significance level was set at 5%.ResultsWeather indicators and population density were factors independently associated with the COVID-19 death toll. Colder counties had significantly higher mortality rates (p<0.00001). Percentages of males and population >59 years old in counties did not affect COVID-19 in-hospital mortality.ConclusionsMany parameters influence COVID-19 outbreak-severity indicators. Population density is a strong factor but its exact importance is difficult to discern. Weather (mainly cold winter temperatures) was independently associated with mortality and could help explain outbreak dynamics, which began and were initially more severe in the coldest counties of continental France. Weather partly explains fatality-rate discrepancies observed worldwide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Link between COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality in continental France administrative areas and weather: an ecological study

2021

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“…Looking to the future, it is yet unknown whether other air particles, like fungal spores, or complex interactions with pollen, other meteorological variables, and air pollutants may also play a role. Even though there is published evidence on the effects of various environmental parameters, like nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), and ultraviolet radiation ( 37 – 41 ), these usually refer to preliminary results and investigation of only a single factor. If one takes into account the huge effect of ongoing climate change and urbanization on the long-term trends in airborne pollen levels ( 42 , 43 ), as well as emerging viral infections, it is of utmost importance to forecast the associated risk for human health in future pandemics and take appropriate measures to reduce it as much as possible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher airborne pollen concentrations correlated with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection rates, as evidenced from 31 countries across the globe

Damialis

Gilles

Sofiev

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

108

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Pollen exposure weakens the immunity against certain seasonal respiratory viruses by diminishing the antiviral interferon response. Here we investigate whether the same applies to the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is sensitive to antiviral interferons, if infection waves coincide with high airborne pollen concentrations. Our original hypothesis was that more airborne pollen would lead to increases in infection rates. To examine this, we performed a cross-sectional and longitudinal data analysis on SARS-CoV-2 infection, airborne pollen, and meteorological factors. Our dataset is the most comprehensive, largest possible worldwide from 130 stations, across 31 countries and five continents. To explicitly investigate the effects of social contact, we additionally considered population density of each study area, as well as lockdown effects, in all possible combinations: without any lockdown, with mixed lockdown−no lockdown regime, and under complete lockdown. We found that airborne pollen, sometimes in synergy with humidity and temperature, explained, on average, 44% of the infection rate variability. Infection rates increased after higher pollen concentrations most frequently during the four previous days. Without lockdown, an increase of pollen abundance by 100 pollen/m3 resulted in a 4% average increase of infection rates. Lockdown halved infection rates under similar pollen concentrations. As there can be no preventive measures against airborne pollen exposure, we suggest wide dissemination of pollen−virus coexposure dire effect information to encourage high-risk individuals to wear particle filter masks during high springtime pollen concentrations.

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“…The anthropogenic character of aerosols transported above the location is also con rmed by the study of the Angstrom coe cient, which attests the presence of a substantial anthropogenic contribution in the atmospheric aerosols all along March 2020. This con rms that the virus action (indirect effect) could be favored by the presence of polluted aerosols (e.g., Romano et al, 2020;Isaia et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Sea-spray aerosols and SARS-Cov-2: an analysis using AERONET data

Piazzola

Desnues

Parent

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Even if the people density, habits and displacements probably represent the most important causes of the SARS-Cov-2 virus propagation, the role of the atmospheric aerosol in COVID-19 outbreaks is significant and it needs to be further investigated. Therefore, we aimed to study if the aerosol properties related to the different sources and meteorological conditions we can observe in continental and coastal urbanized areas can have an influence on the atmospheric transport of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. This paper focuses on the lockdown period to reduce the differences in the social behavior. As an example, we investigated the contamination cases during March 2020 in two specific French areas located in both continental and coastal areas with regard to the meteorological conditions and the corresponding aerosol properties. To this end, we used both the optical depth (AOD) and the Angstrom exponent provided by the AERONET network. The results show that the analysis of aerosol ground-based data can be of interest to assess a virus survey. In particular, our data show that moderate to strong onshore winds occurring in coastal regions, which allow large sea-spray production episodes, deal with smaller COVID-19 contamination rates. This suggests that the coagulation of SARS-Cov-2 viral particles with hygroscopic salty sea-spray aerosols would tend to inhibit its viral infectivity via possible reaction with NaCl, especially in high relative humidity environments. Capsule: Our results suggest that maritime air-masses limit the SARS-Cov-2 impact via the role of the sea-spray.

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Does solar ultraviolet radiation play a role in COVID-19 infection and deaths? An environmental ecological study in Italy

Cited by 56 publications

References 73 publications

Link between COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality in continental France administrative areas and weather: an ecological study

Link between COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality in continental France administrative areas and weather: an ecological study

Higher airborne pollen concentrations correlated with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection rates, as evidenced from 31 countries across the globe

Sea-spray aerosols and SARS-Cov-2: an analysis using AERONET data

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