Association between air pollution in Lima and the high incidence of COVID-19: findings from a post hoc analysis.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 1161, 2021 06 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1277931
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated in the People's Republic of China in December 2019. Thereafter, a global logarithmic expansion of cases occurred. Some countries have a higher rate of infections despite the early implementation of quarantine. Air pollution might be related to high susceptibility to the virus and associated case fatality rates (deaths/cases*100). Lima, Peru, has the second highest incidence of COVID-19 in Latin America and also has one the highest levels of air pollution in the region.METHODS:
This study investigated the association of levels of PM2.5 exposure in previous years (2010-2016) in 24 districts of Lima with cases, deaths and case fatality rates for COVID-19. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate this association controlled by age, sex, population density and number of food markets per district. The study period was from March 6 to June 12, 2020.RESULTS:
There were 128,700 cases in Lima and 2382 deaths due to COVID-19. The case fatality rate was 1.93%. Previous exposure to PM2.5 (2010-2016) was associated with the number of COVID-19- cases (ß = 0.07; 95% CI 0.034-0.107) and deaths (ß = 0.0014; 95% CI 0.0006-0.0.0023) but not with the case fatality rate.CONCLUSIONS:
After adjusting for age, sex and number of food markets, the higher rates of COVID-19 in Metropolitan Lima are attributable to the increased PM2.5 exposure in the previous years, among other reasons. Reduction in air pollution from a long-term perspective and social distancing are needed to prevent the spread of virus outbreaks.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Air Pollutants
/
Air Pollution
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Limits:
Child, preschool
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Asia
/
Peru
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12889-021-11232-7
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