1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1A St., 02-097, Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Intern Emerg Med. 2022 Mar;17(2):467-473. doi: 10.1007/s11739-021-02834-5. Epub 2021 Oct 12.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the world unevenly. One of the highest numbers of cases were recorded in the most polluted regions worldwide. The risk factors for severe COVID-19 include diabetes, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases. It has been known that the same disease might be worsened by chronic exposure to air pollution. The study aimed to determine whether long-term average exposure to air pollution is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Poland. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases and deaths for each voivodeship (the main administrative level of jurisdictions) in Poland were collected from March 4, 2020, to May 15, 2020. Based on the official data published by Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection voivodeship-level long-term exposure to main air pollution: PM, PM, NO, SO, O (averaged from 2013 to 2018) was established. There were statistically significant correlation between COVID-19 cases (per 100,000 population) and annual average concentration of PM (R = 0.367, p = 0.016), PM (R = 0.415, p = 0.009), SO (R = 0.489, p = 0.003), and O (R = 0.537, p = 0.0018). Moreover, COVID-19 deaths (per 100,000 population) were associated with annual average concentration of PM (R = 0.290, p = 0.038), NO (R = 0.319, p = 0.028), O (R = 0.452, p = 0.006). The long-term exposure to air pollution, especially PM, PM, SO, NO, O seems to play an essential role in COVID-19 prevalence and mortality. Long-term exposure to air pollution might increase the susceptibility to the infection, exacerbates the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections, and worsens the patients' prognosis. The study provides generalized and possible universal trends. Detailed analyzes of the phenomenon dedicated to a given region require taking into account data on comorbidities and socioeconomic variables as well as information about the long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 cases and deaths at smaller administrative level of jurisdictions (community or at least district level).
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行在世界范围内的影响不均衡。全球污染最严重的地区记录了最高数量的病例。COVID-19 重症的危险因素包括糖尿病、心血管和呼吸道疾病。已知相同的疾病可能会因长期接触空气污染而恶化。本研究旨在确定波兰长期平均暴露于空气污染是否与 COVID-19 病例和死亡风险增加有关。从 2020 年 3 月 4 日至 2020 年 5 月 15 日，收集了波兰每个省（主要管辖级别）的 COVID-19 病例和死亡的累计数量。根据环境保护首席监察员公布的官方数据，建立了波兰省一级长期暴露于主要空气污染：PM、PM、NO、SO、O（2013 年至 2018 年平均）。COVID-19 病例（每 10 万人）与 PM 年平均浓度之间存在统计学显著相关性（R=0.367，p=0.016），PM（R=0.415，p=0.009），SO（R=0.489，p=0.003）和 O（R=0.537，p=0.0018）。此外，COVID-19 死亡（每 10 万人）与 PM 年平均浓度（R=0.290，p=0.038），NO（R=0.319，p=0.028）和 O（R=0.452，p=0.006）有关。空气污染的长期暴露，尤其是 PM、PM、SO、NO、O，似乎在 COVID-19 的流行和死亡率中起着重要作用。长期暴露于空气污染可能会增加感染的易感性，使 SARS-CoV-2 感染的严重程度恶化，并使患者的预后恶化。该研究提供了普遍的和可能的普遍趋势。针对特定地区的现象进行详细分析需要考虑合并症和社会经济变量的数据，以及有关空气污染和 COVID-19 病例和死亡的长期暴露以及较小行政级别（社区或至少区一级）的数据。
