As if allergies were not enough distress induce by works mating in our nostrils , a newfangled paper provides evidence gamy pollen concentrations make a major contribution to COVID-19 transmission .
Confusion about how SARS - CoV-2 , and by extension other coronaviruses , spread has been a major impediment to fighting the disease . There are obvious ethical ( and practical ) problems with putting infectious people in a room with the uninfected and follow how the computer virus jump between them . Consequently , a stack of what we know comes from observe pattern of when and where transmission rate were mellow .
Dr Athanasios Damialisof the Technical University of Munich noted the first far-flung lawsuit of COVID-19 in Europe cooccur with the seasonal tree diagram pollen peak , and wondered if they were connected . Damialis compare the rate at which the disease has spread with records of pollen teemingness for 130 sites in 31 state . It ’s a hard assessment to make , because we fuck there are so many other factor at play . Changes in social distancing pattern or mask wearing can understandably overwhelm any contribution from pollen , andweatheris almost certainly important as well . Then there are the still unsettled influences of factors likeVitamin D deficiency , and random , unpredictablesuperspreader events .
Nevertheless , Damialis and Colorado - authors from half a 12 countries describe inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthat pollen looks like a major factor . contagion pace top out when pollen engrossment were high in the late four day . Indeed , the authors compose ; “ We get hold that pollen , sometimes in synergy with humidness and temperature , explain , on average , 44 % of the infection rate variability . ” Lockdowns halved the size of the effect , but did not eliminate it . The authors try , however , the field only included data over a relatively short amount of time , and extending it should give a better sense of the straight size of the effect .
Interestingly , the effect stood up even when case of pollen few people are allergic to were admit .
Although the size of it of the effect the paper line might be surprising , the generator note ; “ Coexposure to airborne pollenenhances susceptibilityto respiratory viral infection , regardless of the allergy status . ” That of course is in addition to the fact that pollen will make hypersensitized people cough and sneeze even when COVID-19 is n’t affecting them much , plausibly increase viral load in the air travel .
Using this information could prove tricky . “ diction should be extremely well study to avoid misunderstanding and to not stimulate panic , ” the paper notes . evenly , no one should be lulled into thinking pollen - free days are safe .
Nevertheless , if people take spare care when pollen levels are gamey , either by ride out home or wearing masks , we might not only cut down on the spread of COVID-19 , but future pandemic as well .
