Scientists have now discovered a link between long-term exposure to air pollution and an increased risk of catching infections like Covid-19. When the particulate matter in the air increased, it increased the chances of infection by some margin. Even though the exact cause of this is not established, it is clear that there is a direct correlation between air pollution and an increase in the risk of Covid-19.
Risk Of Covid-19 Increases With Long Term Exposure To Air Pollution
Regions that were hit hard by the covid pandemic were analyzed in general, and it was found that cities that had high levels of air pollution for a long duration had more patients admitted to hospitals when compared to other regions that had lesser air pollution.
Even though the research has some interesting points about linking air pollution to the increased risk of Covid-19, it is not supported by large data as the data till mid-2020 was considered for the research. However, further research was conducted in different regions till the end of March 2021 to analyze the rate of infection and pollution levels in the region.
Apart from that, the overall rate of vaccination in the region was also considered as some regions that were badly affected in the pandemic had a small percentage of vaccination rate. It was interesting to note that population density was not a big factor when it came to increased numbers of covid infections. This was evident in several densely populated regions of the world, showing less number of infections than other regions.
Apart from these factors, having other health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and other breathing issues contributed significantly to high cases. The risk increased every time with increased co-morbid conditions, and this was consistent in most regions. The research also took into consideration age, gender, and other factors while evaluating the data. In all these cases, long-term exposure to harmful pollutants increased the overall risk by some margin as it added a few more patients in terms of percentage to the overall figure.
The researchers also considered seasonal averages and annual averages to analyze the effectiveness of the data. However, the results were similar, and it further confirmed that there was a direct link between increased air pollution and covid risk.
It was clear that older people had more chances of catching infections like Covid due to the high amount of air pollution. Even though young people travel more and get more exposed to air pollution, they have better immunity and less co-morbid conditions when compared to senior citizens. In this way, the older population suffered a lot due to increased air pollution.
Even though researchers considered various factors, it was more of an observation than anything else as it could not zero down on the cause of these factors. The overall climatic conditions like humidity and temperature also play a major role in determining the effects of air pollution, and those factors were not considered in the research. Along with that, the mental health condition of the patient was also not taken into consideration in the study.
Researchers believe that the simple reason for this co-relation could be the fact that long-term air pollution damages the lungs to some extent. As Covid affects the lungs in a big way, patients with respiratory issues are more prone to developing complications during Covid infection.
When the lungs do not have good immunity, the person becomes prone to infections like covid. The administration should consider putting more efforts into such research so that the impact of air pollution on various ailments can be clearly known in the long run. In this way, steps can be drawn to curb air pollution in the future.
