India is deploying many the strategies to check the proliferation of the Corona virus. However, the desired results are still far away as hundred per cent practicability of the strategies is somehow impossible, particularly in the face of over- burdened healthcare system. Yet, reducing air pollution can play a vital role in combating the menace as the interaction of high winter pollution levels with Covid-19 infections may have serious consequences, as per the news reports published in September 2020.
The problem of air pollution in India is at two levels—outdoor and indoor. Outdoor air pollution affects cities and throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain, whereas indoor air pollution, from millions of chulhas in rural areas, affects rural population. Air pollution can worsen the severity of the infection as Covid-19 affects the respiratory system. In 2019 alone, there were reported nearly 200,000 respiratory infection deaths in India. So, air pollution may be an important factor in moving a mild Covid-19 infection to an acute one.
Whether air pollution directly impacts Covid-19 or not needs proper studies, but the evidence from the SARS epidemic in 2003 (caused by a similar virus) shows a relationship between air pollution and increased mortality. Besides, evidence from multiple countries, including studies from India show that there is a consistent link between both short- and long-term exposure to air pollution and hospitalisation for pneumonia infections and several types of respiratory infections in children.
Studies show winter air pollution results in worsening the severity of respiratory infections as air pollution reduces the immune response to respiratory infections. Studies also suggest that the air pollution may alter lung cells to increase the number of Sars-CoV-2 virus receptors. On the other hand, longer-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of infections, especially in those who already suffer from chronic lung disease. In such people, air pollution may lead to permanent structural changes in the lungs that erode a person’s reserves. So, an infection that causes mild symptoms in a healthy person can have severe impact in patients of chronic lung disease. This is the reason as to why many of the air pollution related diseases are also present in the majority of Covid-19 patients.
Though, air pollution is reported to transmit the virus, current evidence does not suggest that the virus hitching a ride on air pollution particles is an important route of transmission. Moreover, little evidence indicates that infections occur outdoors except when people are in very close proximity to or coughing by an infected person.
Therefore, concerted actions are needed to reduce virus transmission through the air pollution control measures already described in the National Clean Air Programme. Agricultural (stubble) burning needs to be either curtailed entirely or managed in a way that is timed with tightening of pandemic management measures. More rapid expansion of LPG use may reduce household pollution. Efforts implemented today will have immediate impact and continue to bear dividends long into the future.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times