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. 2021 Jun;28(24):31996-32004.
doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-12878-x. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Beyond virology: environmental constraints of the first wave of COVID-19 cases in Italy

Christian Mulder  1 , Erminia Conti  2 , Salvatore Saccone  2 , Concetta Federico  2
Affiliations

Beyond virology: environmental constraints of the first wave of COVID-19 cases in Italy

Christian Mulder et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Global warming and air pollution affect the transmission pathway and the survival of viruses, altering the human immune system as well. The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically highlights the key roles of climate and air chemistry in viral epidemics. The elongated form of the Italian peninsula and the two major islands (the largest in Europe) is a perfect case study to assess some of these key roles, as the fate of the virus is mirroring the industrialization in the continental part of our country. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), geography, and climate explain what is happening in Italy and support cleaner air actions to address efficiently other outbreaks. Besides the environmental factors, future works should also address the genetic difference among individuals to explain the spatial variability of the human response to viral infections.

Keywords: COVID; Fine particulate matter; PM2.5; SARS-CoV-2; Viral infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Examples of time series of COVID cases in five regions during the first wave in Italy. Source: https://www.epicentro.iss.it/coronavirus/ (incidence of COVID cases per 100,000 inhabitants, figures modified and adapted)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Heat map of the COVID cases and the environmental variables for 82 urban domains (numbered as in Table 2). More details in the text
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Frequency distributions of the total concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5, expressed in μg/m3) calculated over our 82 urban domains according to climatological predictors
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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