The Relation of Air Pollution on Morbidity and Mortality of Sars-Cov Infection in Tekirdag, Türkiye

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigate the relation between environmental air pollutants such as Particulate Matter 10 (PM<INF>10</INF>), Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM<INF>2.5</INF>), Sulfur Dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) on daily cases and deaths associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: The ecological research examined the correlations of the air quality metrics and the data of COVID-19 cases and deaths from March 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021 in the central District of Tekirda & gbreve; Province in T & uuml;rkiye. Results: During the study period, the average PM<INF>10</INF> concentration was 32.57 +/- 17.86 mu g/m3, PM<INF>2.5</INF> was 20.68 +/- 11.31 mu g/m3, SO<INF>2</INF> was 11.28 +/- 13.42 mu g/m3, and NO<INF>2</INF> was 19.07 +/- 7.26 mu g/m3. The SARS-CoV-2 case fatality rate in the study area during this period was 3.2%. Correlation analyses between air pollutants and SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths revealed significant positive associations between SARS-CoV-2 cases (r=0.220 for PM<INF>10</INF>, P<0.001; r=0.290 for PM<INF>2.5</INF>, P<0.001; r=0.218 for SO<INF>2</INF>, P<0.001) and deaths (r=0.203 for PM<INF>10</INF>, P<0.001; r=0.289 for PM<INF>2.5</INF>, P<0.001; r=0.278 for SO2, P<0.001). Moreover, regression analysis revealed that ambient sulfur dioxide (SO<INF><INF>2</INF></INF>) levels significantly predicted both COVID-19 incidence and mortality. Conclusion: PM<INF>10</INF>, PM<INF>2.5</INF>, and SO<INF>2</INF>, key parameters for assessing air quality, exhibit a positive relationship with the increasing number of daily SARS-CoV-2 cases and daily deaths in the study area.