Environmental Factors Influencing COVID-19 Incidence and Severity

Abstract

Emerging evidence supports a link between environmental factors—including air pollution and chemical exposures, climate, and the built environment—and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) susceptibility and severity. Climate, air pollution, and the built environment have long been recognized to influence viral respiratory infections, and studies have established similar associations with COVID-19 outcomes. More limited evidence links chemical exposures to COVID-19. Environmental factors were found to influence COVID-19 through four major interlinking mechanisms: increased risk of preexisting conditions associated with disease severity; immune system impairment; viral survival and transport; and behaviors that increase viral exposure. Both data and methodologic issues complicate the investigation of these relationships, including reliance on coarse COVID-19 surveillance data; gaps in mechanistic studies; and the predominance of ecological designs. We evaluate the strength of evidence for environment–COVID-19 relationships and discuss environmental actions that might simultaneously address the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental determinants of health, and health disparities. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Effects of the built environment and human factors on the spread of COVID-19: A systematic literature review

“…These reviews have analyzed environmental factors that may affect the spread of COVID-19. They have reviewed the effects of factors such as urban greenery, temperature, humidity, wind, air and water quality, and indoor environmental conditions on the spread of COVID-19 ( Wu, 2021 ; Teller, 2021 ; Valsamatzi-Panagiotou and Penchovsky, 2022 ; Kumar et al, 2021 ; Weaver et al, 2022 ). Some of them also have considered some urban factors such as urban morphology, density, housing, health facilities, urban services, and transportation on the spread of COVID-19 ( Hussein, 2022 ; Azuma et al, 2020 ; Alam and Sultana, 2021 ).…”

“…Overall, these literature reviews have focused on different aspects such as urban planning factors ( Hussein, 2022 ; Rojas-Rueda and Morales-Zamora, 2021 ; Harris et al, 2022 ), urbanization ( Wu, 2021 ), density ( Zhang and Schwartz, 2020 ), transport and travel behavior features ( Shortall et al, 2021 , Shortall et al, 2022 ), environmental factors ( Azuma et al, 2020 ; Valsamatzi-Panagiotou and Penchovsky, 2022 ; Kumar et al, 2021 ; Weaver et al, 2022 ), smart city deployment ( Sharifi et al, 2021 ; Hassankhani et al, 2021 ), and social determinants of health ( Brakefield et al, 2022 ). These papers have discussed the driving factors of COVID-19 spread, how this pandemic has affected nature, settlements, and residents, and how urban planning can mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic.…”

“…Making such a distinction is needed as patterns and dynamics of the spread of the virus could be different across different scales. Third, while Alam and Sultana (2021) , Teller (2021) , and Weaver et al (2022) have addressed different dimensions, their results are based on a few papers. Furthermore, they have not followed systematic approaches in their analyses.…”

Repurposing Probenecid to Inhibit SARS-CoV-2, Influenza Virus, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Replication

“…Interestingly, CoVs and RSV replicate in the host cell’s cytosol, while flu replicates in the nucleus; however, all of these viruses are susceptible to probenecid. As viruses modify host genes and pathways to facilitate viral replication, it is possible that probenecid treatment may modify viral-mediated changes that contribute to the treatment of “long COVID” symptoms [ 73 , 74 ], where PANX1 expression in the brain and synaptic plasticity are modified by COVID [ 75 , 76 ].…”

Association of Short-term Air Pollution Exposure With SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Young Adults in Sweden

“…Two key pathways for the plausible mechanism between air pollution and COVID-19–related outcomes have been summarized 5 : (1) modifying host susceptibility to infection and/or disease severity and (2) elevating the risk of comorbidities. The former pathway can be mediated through upregulation of proteins critical to viral entry 6 , 7 and by immune system suppression due to oxidative stress, 8 epithelial damage, 9 and pulmonary inflammation.…”