The Environment and COVID-19 Transmission: A Perspective

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a severe public health threat worldwide. Despite the global spread, there is an observed aberration and skewness in the geographic/regional distribution of the disease, with a high preponderance of cases and mortality occurring in the temperate regions compared to the tropics. A plausible explanation for this discrepancy could be linked to variability in environmental factors. Hence, this review discusses succinctly the possible influences of geographic location, temperature/sunlight, relative humidity and building design on the rate of transmission of COVID-19. We postulate that elevated melatonin production in a hot climate, high temperature, adequate vitamin D synthesis from sunlight exposure, high relative humidity and efficient ventilation due to housing design confers innate immunity and adaptive advantage to COVID-19 transmission for populations in the tropics over those in the temperate regions. Hence, we recommend that control studies taking into congnizance the relationship between environment and disease be prioritized. Such studies are important for predicting viral disease spread, in particular if this leads to pandemics like in the case of COVID-19, to aid decisions in public health policies at the global level.

Saúde Ambiental E Covid-19 No Contexto Da Enfermagem Da Atenção Primária – Scoping Review

“…Estudos favorecendo a formação de aerossóis e formação de núcleos de gotículas (9,(11)(12)(13)(14) .…”

“…O estresse térmico contribui diretamente na hipertermia ou interrompe a respiração pelo fechamento da laringe. ARTIGO DE REVISÃO brasileiras (13) The Environment and COVID-19 Transmission: A Perspective (14) 2020/ Nigéria…”

Advanced porous materials for antimicrobial treatment

“…[8,17,18] Plants can produce phytochemicals that are small molecules essential in the growth but also in their protection against pathogenic microorganisms. These compounds are known as secondary metabolites and have been studied for their potential application as antiinflammatory, [19,20] anti-oxidant, [19,20] anti-cancer [21][22][23][24] and antimicrobials. [17,[24][25][26] Flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, cardenolides, terpenoids, and phytosteroids are the most of promising source of natural-based drugs.…”

“…[17,[24][25][26] Flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, cardenolides, terpenoids, and phytosteroids are the most of promising source of natural-based drugs. [22][23][24] These plant-based compounds associated with antibiotics have shown synergistic antimicrobial therapy due to their mechanisms of action like inhibition of enzymes F I G U R E 1 Current strategies applied for antimicrobial infection control. Created using Biorender.com.…”

“…that inactivate drugs and the inhibition of active sites modification in MDR pathogens. [22][23][24] Other important mechanisms comprise the permeability enhancement, cell membrane lysis, imbalance of intracellular metabolism, inhibition of efflux pumps, increased ions flow, and inhibition of DNA/RNA transcription. [22][23][24] Although several secondary metabolites have been reported in literature, only few of them have been approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), such as paclitaxel, reserpine, colchicine, codeine, and capsaicin.…”