Viral respiratory infections and air pollution: A review focused on research in Poland

Barbara Poniedziałek; Piotr Rzymski; Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk; Robert Flisiak

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142256

Viral respiratory infections and air pollution: A review focused on research in Poland

Chemosphere. 2024 May 7:359:142256. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142256. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Barbara Poniedziałek¹, Piotr Rzymski², Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk³, Robert Flisiak⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland. Electronic address: bpon@ump.edu.pl.
² Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland. Electronic address: rzymskipiotr@ump.edu.pl.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland. Electronic address: dorota1010@o2.pl.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland. Electronic address: robert.flisiak1@gmail.com.

PMID: 38723686
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142256

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced an interest in the relationship between air pollution and respiratory viral infections, indicating that their burden can be increased under poor air quality. This paper reviews the pathways through which air pollutants can enhance susceptibility to such infections and aggravate their clinical course and outcome. It also summarizes the research exploring the links between various viral infections and exposure to solid and gaseous pollution in Poland, a region characterized by poor air quality, especially during a heating season. The majority of studies focused on concentrations of particulate matter (PM; 86.7%); the other pollutants, i.e., BaP, benzene, CO, NO_x, O₃, and SO_2, were studied less often and sometimes only in the context of a particular infection type. Most research concerned COVID-19, showing that elevated levels of PM and NO₂ correlated with higher morbidity and mortality, while increased PM_2.5 and benzo[a]pyrene levels were related to worse clinical course and outcome in hospitalized, regardless of age and dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant. PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 levels were also associated with the incidence of influenza-like illness and, along with NO₂ concentrations, with a higher rate of children's hospitalizations due to lower respiratory tract RSV infections. Higher levels of air pollutants also increased hospitalization due to bronchitis (PM, NO_x, and O₃) and emergency department admission due to viral croup (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO_x, CO, and benzene). Although the conducted studies imply only correlations and have other limitations, as discussed in the present paper, it appears that improving air quality through reducing combustion processes in energy production in Poland should be perceived as a part of multilayered protection measures against respiratory viral infections, decreasing the healthcare costs of COVID-19, lower tract RSV infections, influenza, and other respiratory viral diseases prevalent between autumn and early spring, in addition to other health and climate benefits.

Keywords: COVID-19; Influenza; Particulate matter; RSV; Respiratory disease; benzo(a)pyrene.