Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study
Abstract Background The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a serious public health concern worldwide. Certain regions of the globe were severely affected in terms of prevalence and mortality than other. Although the cause for this pattern is not clearly understood, lessons learned fr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Environmental Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00804-0 |
| _version_ | 1819006938624557056 |
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| author | Sumit Aggarwal Sivaraman Balaji Tanvi Singh Geetha R. Menon Sandip Mandal Jayaprakasam Madhumathi Nupur Mahajan Simran Kohli Jasmine Kaur Harpreet Singh Kiran Rade Samiran Panda |
| author_facet | Sumit Aggarwal Sivaraman Balaji Tanvi Singh Geetha R. Menon Sandip Mandal Jayaprakasam Madhumathi Nupur Mahajan Simran Kohli Jasmine Kaur Harpreet Singh Kiran Rade Samiran Panda |
| author_sort | Sumit Aggarwal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a serious public health concern worldwide. Certain regions of the globe were severely affected in terms of prevalence and mortality than other. Although the cause for this pattern is not clearly understood, lessons learned from previous epidemics and emerging evidences suggest the major role of ecological factors like ambient air pollutants (AAP) and meteorological parameters in increased COVID-19 incidence. The present study aimed to understand the impact of these factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and their associated mortality in major cities of India. Methods This study used secondary AAP, meteorological and COVID-19 data from official websites for the period January-November 2020, which were divided into Pre-lockdown (January-March 2020), Phase I (April to June 2020) and Phase II (July to November 2020) in India. After comprehensive screening, five major cities that includes 48 CPCB monitoring stations collecting daily data of ambient temperature, particulate matter PM2.5 and 10 were analysed. Spearman and Kendall’s rank correlation test was performed to understand the association between SARS-CoV-2 transmission and AAP and, meteorological variables. Similarly, case fatality rate (CFR) was determined to compute the correlation between AAP and COVID-19 related morality. Results The level of air pollutants in major cities were significantly reduced during Phase I compared to Pre-lock down and increased upon Phase II in all the cities. During the Phase II in Delhi, the strong significant positive correlation was observed between the AAP and SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai AAP levels were moderate and no correlation was noticed. The relation between AT and SARS-CoV-2 transmission was inconclusive as both positive and negative correlation observed. In addition, Delhi and Kolkata showed a positive association between long-term exposure to the AAP and COVID-19 CFR. Conclusion Our findings support the hypothesis that the particulate matter upon exceeding the satisfactory level serves as an important cofactor in increasing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and related mortality. These findings would help public health experts to understand the SARS-CoV-2 transmission against ecological variables in India and provides supporting evidence to healthcare policymakers and government agencies for formulating strategies to combat the COVID-19. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T00:16:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55a85b07a7ca4524813d835dd3a1e9ac |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1476-069X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T00:16:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-55a85b07a7ca4524813d835dd3a1e9ac2022-12-21T19:22:13ZengBMCEnvironmental Health1476-069X2021-11-0120111310.1186/s12940-021-00804-0Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory studySumit Aggarwal0Sivaraman Balaji1Tanvi Singh2Geetha R. Menon3Sandip Mandal4Jayaprakasam Madhumathi5Nupur Mahajan6Simran Kohli7Jasmine Kaur8Harpreet Singh9Kiran Rade10Samiran Panda11Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersIndian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Medical StatisticsDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersWorld Health OrganizationDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research-HeadquartersAbstract Background The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a serious public health concern worldwide. Certain regions of the globe were severely affected in terms of prevalence and mortality than other. Although the cause for this pattern is not clearly understood, lessons learned from previous epidemics and emerging evidences suggest the major role of ecological factors like ambient air pollutants (AAP) and meteorological parameters in increased COVID-19 incidence. The present study aimed to understand the impact of these factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and their associated mortality in major cities of India. Methods This study used secondary AAP, meteorological and COVID-19 data from official websites for the period January-November 2020, which were divided into Pre-lockdown (January-March 2020), Phase I (April to June 2020) and Phase II (July to November 2020) in India. After comprehensive screening, five major cities that includes 48 CPCB monitoring stations collecting daily data of ambient temperature, particulate matter PM2.5 and 10 were analysed. Spearman and Kendall’s rank correlation test was performed to understand the association between SARS-CoV-2 transmission and AAP and, meteorological variables. Similarly, case fatality rate (CFR) was determined to compute the correlation between AAP and COVID-19 related morality. Results The level of air pollutants in major cities were significantly reduced during Phase I compared to Pre-lock down and increased upon Phase II in all the cities. During the Phase II in Delhi, the strong significant positive correlation was observed between the AAP and SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai AAP levels were moderate and no correlation was noticed. The relation between AT and SARS-CoV-2 transmission was inconclusive as both positive and negative correlation observed. In addition, Delhi and Kolkata showed a positive association between long-term exposure to the AAP and COVID-19 CFR. Conclusion Our findings support the hypothesis that the particulate matter upon exceeding the satisfactory level serves as an important cofactor in increasing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and related mortality. These findings would help public health experts to understand the SARS-CoV-2 transmission against ecological variables in India and provides supporting evidence to healthcare policymakers and government agencies for formulating strategies to combat the COVID-19.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00804-0COVID-19SARS-CoV-2 transmissionAir pollutantsMeteorologicalParametersMortality |
| spellingShingle | Sumit Aggarwal Sivaraman Balaji Tanvi Singh Geetha R. Menon Sandip Mandal Jayaprakasam Madhumathi Nupur Mahajan Simran Kohli Jasmine Kaur Harpreet Singh Kiran Rade Samiran Panda Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study Environmental Health COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 transmission Air pollutants Meteorological Parameters Mortality |
| title | Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study |
| title_full | Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study |
| title_fullStr | Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study |
| title_short | Association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with SARS-CoV-2 transmission and mortality in India: an exploratory study |
| title_sort | association between ambient air pollutants and meteorological factors with sars cov 2 transmission and mortality in india an exploratory study |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 transmission Air pollutants Meteorological Parameters Mortality |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00804-0 |
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