Research progress on influence of environmental and meteorological parameters on transmission of coronavirus disease 2019

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) is spreading rapidly around the world and has become a global pandemic. Meteorological factors have been recognized as one of the critical factors that influence the epidemiology and transmission of infectious diseases. In this context, the World Meteorological Organization and scholars at home and abroad have paid extensive attention to the relationships of environment and meteorology with COVID-19. This paper systematically collected and sorted out relevant domestic and foreign studies, and reviewed the latest research progress on the impact of environmental and meteorological factors on COVID-19, classifying them into typical meteorological factors (such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed), local environmental factors (such as indoor enclosed environment, ventilation, disinfection, and air conditioning), and air pollution. Current research evidence suggests that typical meteorological factors, local environmental factors, and air pollutants are closely related to the transmission of COVID-19. However, the results of different studies are still divergent due to uncertainty about the influencing mechanism, and differences in research areas and methods. This review elucidated the importance of environmental and meteorological factors to the spread of COVID-19, and provided useful implications for the control of further large-scale transmission of COVID-19 and the development of prevention and control strategies under different environmental and meteorological conditions.Copyright © 2022, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.

On race, human variation, and who gets and dies of sepsis

COVID-19 has highlighted a brutal reality known for decades, that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color bear a disproportionate burden of US annual sepsis cases. While plentiful research funds have been spent investigating genetic reasons for racial disparities in sepsis, an abundance of research shows that sepsis incidence and mortality maps to indicators of colonial practices including residential segregation, economic and marginalization sepsis, and denial of care. Here we argue that sepsis risk is an immunological embodiment of racism in colonial states, that the factors contributing to sepsis disparities are insidious and systemic. We show that regardless of causative pathogen, or host ancestry, racialized people get and die of sepsis most frequently in a pattern repeatedly reiterated worldwide. Lastly, we argue that while alleviation of sepsis disparities requires radical, multiscale intervention, biological anthropologists have a responsibility in this crisis. While some of us can harness our expertise to take on the ground action in sepsis prevention, all of us can leverage our positions as the first point of contact for in depth human biology instruction on most college campuses. As a leading cause of death worldwide, and a syndrome that exhibits the interplay between human physiology, race and environment, sepsis is at the nexus of major themes in biological anthropology and is a natural fit for the field's curriculum. In adopting a discussion of race and sepsis in our courses, we not only develop new research areas but increase public awareness of both sepsis and the factors contributing to uneven sepsis burden.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

From city to sea: Spatiotemporal dynamics of floating macrolitter in the Tiber River

Rivers are undoubtedly the main pathway of waste dispersed in the environment that from land reaches oceans and seas increasing the amount of marine litter. Major cities are a great source of riverine litter as large urbanization can originate pressure on the integrated waste management resulting in litter entering the rivers. Within this study, we aim to investigate the dynamic of floating riverine macrolitter (items >2.5 cm) in the city of Rome before it reaches the sea by assessing the composition, amount, and seasonal trends of litter transported from the urban centre to the main river mouth of Tiber River. Visual surveys for a whole year (March 2021–February 2022) were conducted from two bridges, Scienza Bridge (in the city) and Scafa Bridge (at the main river mouth) and followed JRC/RIMMEL protocol for riverine litter monitoring. Overall, similar litter composition was observed from the city centre to the mouth with a prevalence of plastic material, mainly related to fragmentation process (i.e. plastic pieces) and single use items, mainly in food and beverage sectors. An extrapolated annual loading of 4 × 105 items/year was estimated at the main mouth of Tiber River. The litter flux seems to be influenced by the seasonal variability and hydrometeorological parameters. The frequency of size classes decreases with increasing size in both sites, and more than half of the recorded items were below 10 cm. Specific categories belonging to "other plastics” have been reported related to anti-Covid-19 behaviour such as face masks and beverage sector, e.g. bottle lids and rings. The main colour of plastics was white, suggesting weathering process of floating riverine litter. This study contributes to increasing knowledge of the origin, composition and spatiotemporal dynamics of riverine floating litter from the city and entering the sea. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Spatial shifting of COVID-19 clusters and disease association with environmental parameters in India: A time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: The viability and virulence of COVID-19 are complex in nature. Although the relationship between environmental parameters and COVID-19 is well studied across the globe, in India, such studies are limited. This research aims to explore long-term exposure to weather conditions and the role of air pollution on the infection spread and mortality due to COVID-19 in India. METHOD: District-level COVID-19 data from April 26, 2020 to July 10, 2021 was used for the study. Environmental determinants such as land surface temperature, relative humidity (RH), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), and Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) were considered for analysis. The bivariate spatial association was used to explore the spatial relationship between Case Fatality Rate (CFR) and these environmental factors. Further, the Bayesian multivariate linear regression model was applied to observe the association between environmental factors and the CFR of COVID-19. RESULTS: Spatial shifting of COVID-19 cases from Western to Southern and then Eastern parts of India were well observed. The infection rate was highly concentrated in most of the Western and Southern regions of India, while the CFR shows more concentration in Northern India along with Maharashtra. Four main spatial clusters of infection were recognized during the study period. The time-series analysis indicates significantly more CFR with higher AOD, O3, and NO2 in India. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 is highly associated with environmental parameters and air pollution in India. The study provides evidence to warrant consideration of environmental parameters in health models to mediate potential solutions. Cleaner air is a must to mitigate COVID-19.

COVID 19 CASES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS IN FOUR DEPARTMENTS OF CATAMARCA PROVINCE. PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Respiratory viral infections are related to environmental parameters, especially Influenza viruses. There are no studies on this subject in Argentina. The objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between the presence of COVID19 cases and environmental parameters in 4 departments of the province of Catamarca, from March 2 to June 31, 2021, to establish the importance of the environment in the spread of viral infection. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Ambato, Capital, Paclín, and Andalgalá. A total of 17,142 positive cases were taken, in a temperature range (T) between -3.1°C and 39.6°C, and relative humidity of 75%. The data treatment was carried out with the Infostat statistical software, through a linear regression for the numerical variables. The results showed that the average ambient temperature has an indirect relationship with the number of cases in Capital where the average temperature decreased from 28.3 to 5°C, increasing from 13 to 345 cases;in Ambato, the average temperature decreased from 22.2 to 0.9°C with an increase from 0 to 16 cases, in Paclín the average temperature decreased from 22.3 to 1.5°C with an increase from 0 to 9 cases, and Andalgalá, where the ambient temperature has a direct relationship with the number of cases, where the number of cases increased from 0 to 70. Relative humidity did not vary in any of the departments studied. In conclusion, preliminary results suggest that the number of COVID19 cases is related to environmental temperature but not to average humidity. Further study of environmental parameters to virosis is relevant for our region and the rest of the country.

Role of environmental parameters on the survival of coronaviruses on surfaces

Several reviews and models have suggested that indirect contact transmission involving contaminated surfaces could be the predominant transmission route for certain respiratory viruses. Indeed, contaminated environmental surfaces are considered to represent a significant vector for hospital-acquired viral infections. For any environmental contamination to be relevant, a virus should not only remain infectious on the recipient surface but also persist at a sufficient concentration to enable it to reach the respiratory tract via finger contamination. In general terms, the potential of a fomite to spread a given infectious agent is directly related to the capacity of the agent to survive on that surface. The surface stability of viruses is generally influenced by the type of surface, environmental factors such as relative humidity and temperature, and the presence of body fluid secretions (respiratory excretions, feces, blood.). We investigated the influence of such parameters on the stability of several alpha and betacoronaviruses, including 3 variants of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2 variant 2020, SARS-CoV-2 variant UK and SARS-CoV2 variant delta), on stainless steel discs and porous surface corresponding to borosilicate discs. Assays were done at 7 °C and 25 °C with a relative humidity of 65%. Artificial mucus/saliva or BSA/yeast extract mixtures were used as fluid mimetics for respiratory and enteric viruses, respectively. Our results showed significant variable stability of the viruses depending on both the porous/non-porous nature of the surfaces and the temperature. Beneficial or negative impacts of the body fluids were also observed. This study characterizes for the first time the behaviour of human and animal coronaviruses, including highly pathogenic betacoronaviruses, on several surfaces with fixed environmental parameters.

ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH COVID-19 CASES IN CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA

This work aims to evaluate the possible relations between the confirmed daily cases of COVID-19 and the environmental parameters for the Cuiaba-Varzea Grande conurbation in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The data sets used to cover the rainy-dry periods, from January to December 2020, were achieved from a database of government institutions, and processed through the Spearman correlation test. Our results showed that atmospheric pressure and fire radiative power has a significant positive correlation, suggesting that these parameters favor the transmission of COVID-19. On the other hand, the relative humidity of the air and the total column of water vapor showed a significant negative correlation with the number of confirmed daily cases of COVID-19, which indicates that the water vapor present in the atmosphere acts in the regulation of virus transmission. Thus, taking into account the results obtained, there is a need for collaborative policies and measures among the three spheres of executive power in Brazil, to act in the surveillance of fire cases, which can favor the transmission of COVID-19. In addition, prevention and protection measures aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus continue to be indispensable.