Dhingra Rachna, Sarangi Satinath, Chatterjee Pranab, Gun Arkaprabha, Sarkar Swarup
India Coordinator, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, 44, Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Berasia Road, Bhopal 462038, MP, India.
Sambhavna Trust, Sambhavna Trust Clinic, Bafna Colony, Berasia Road, Bhopal 461001, MP, India.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2024 Jul 5;118(7):436-439. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trae010.
Leakage of methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed thousands and left deleterious trans-generational effects. Gas-exposed populations experience higher rates of lung and metabolic diseases, and immune dysregulation, all associated with adverse outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We used publicly available, official data from government sources to estimate COVID-19-associated crude mortality in populations with and without a history of gas exposure. Overall, there were 1240 deaths among patients hospitalized with known COVID-19 in Bhopal, of which 453 (36.53%) were in gas-exposed individuals, 726 (58.55%) were in gas-unexposed individuals and the exposure status of 61 (4.92%) individuals could not be determined. There were 351 and 375 deaths in gas-unexposed people in the first (April 2020-February 2021) and second (March 2021-July 2021) waves, respectively; in the gas-exposed population, there were 300 and 153 deaths in the two respective waves. The overall annualized crude mortality of COVID-19 was 3.84 (95% CI 3.41 to 4.33) times higher in the gas-exposed population at 83.6 (95% CI 76.1 to 91.7) per 100 000 compared with the gas-unexposed population, at 21.8 (95% CI 20.2 to 23.4) per 100,000. When stratified by age, compared with unexposed people, the gas-exposed individuals experienced 1.88 (95% CI 1.61 to 2.21) and 1.24 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.50) times the mortality rates in the age groups of 35-65 and >65 y, respectively. These findings indicate that gas-exposed individuals are likely to have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 and death and need to be specifically targeted and recognized for preventive and promotive efforts.
印度博帕尔联合碳化物工厂发生的异氰酸甲酯泄漏事件致使数千人死亡，并产生了有害的跨代影响。接触毒气的人群患肺部疾病、代谢疾病和免疫失调的几率更高，而这些都与2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的不良后果相关。我们利用政府来源的公开官方数据，估算了有和没有毒气接触史人群中与COVID-19相关的粗死亡率。总体而言，博帕尔已知感染COVID-19的住院患者中有1240人死亡，其中453人（36.53%）为接触毒气者，726人（58.55%）为未接触毒气者，61人（4.92%）的接触状况无法确定。在第一波疫情（2020年4月至2021年2月）和第二波疫情（2021年3月至2021年7月）中，未接触毒气人群分别有351人和375人死亡；在接触毒气人群中，两波疫情分别有300人和153人死亡。接触毒气人群中COVID-19的总体年化粗死亡率为每10万人83.6例（95%置信区间76.1至91.7），是未接触毒气人群（每10万人21.8例，95%置信区间20.2至23.4）的3.84倍（95%置信区间3.41至4.33）。按年龄分层后，与未接触人群相比，接触毒气人群在35至65岁和65岁以上年龄组的死亡率分别为未接触人群的1.88倍（95%置信区间1.61至2.21）和1.24倍（95%置信区间1.02至1.50）。这些发现表明，接触毒气的个体感染重症COVID-19和死亡的风险可能更高，需要针对他们进行专门的预防和促进工作。
