Can The Air We Breathe Predict The Next COVID-19 Surge?
We can now be able to use elements in the air to predict overvoltages COVID 19 and flu. A new study, presented in the annual meeting of the American microbiology companyfound that monitoring airborne fungal spores can be used as an early alert system for influx in the event of respiratory viruses.
Researchers found that when there is an increase in fungal spore levels in the air, there is also an increase in diseases of diseases like COVID-19. This correlation suggests that air surveillance systems could be an effective form of public health used to warn people in the risks of respiratory viruses.
“By monitoring the air we breathe, we can be able to better plan and prepare for seasonal epidemics of respiratory viral infections,” said Félix E. Rivera-Mariari, presenting a study author and associate professor of biochemistry and special subjects in biology at the University of Lynn, in a press release. “These results can help shed light on environmental risk alerts, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly or those with asthma and allergic rhinitis.”
Learn more:: An infectious fungus can cause valley fever, creating health risks – here is what you need to know
How can air predict COVVI-19 epidemics?
For this study, researchers were interested in knowing more about the relationship between environmental exhibitions and respiratory viral infections. Environmental exhibitions include things such as fungal spores and pollen that can potentially play a role in the triggering of respiratory diseases as COVID 19.
Although studies have explored the links between environmental exhibitions and chronic health problems such as asthma and allergies, there have been relatively few studies examining how these exhibitions have an impact on viral infections.
To help fill the gap on this connection, the researchers collected data every day from 2022 to 2024 in two very populated areas of Puerto Rico. The data collected included the amount of airborne and pollen fungal spores and the amount of people diagnosed with COVID-19 or the flu.
By analyzing these two data sets, the team was able to observe a link between high levels of environmental exposure and an increase in cases of respiratory viruses.
Use air as a warning sign for COVID-19
Using both machine and statistical learning models, scientists discovered this surveillance fungal spores Can be used as an early alert system for diseases like COVID-19 and flu, especially in the fall. Although the presence of pollen has not shown a significant link with cases of respiratory diseases, the presence of fungal spores was strongly linked to these viruses.
“The results of our study suggest that monitoring the levels of airborne fungal spores could help predict short-term epidemics of flu and COVI-19, giving public health systems an early alert signal,” said Rivera-Mariani in the press release. “Our results also highlight the potential role of environmental factors – not just the person’s spread to the person – by contributing to the impact of respiratory viral infections.
The machine and the statistical models used during this study were able to use fungal spore levels suspended in the air to predict overvoltages in COVID-19 and influenza with great precision. For future studies, the research team plans to determine whether environmental exhibitions can also be linked to the increase in hospitalizations and deaths from respiratory viruses.
“We also hope to collaborate with local health agencies to explore the integration of fungal surveillance into the forecasting systems of existing epidemics,” said Rivera-Mariari in the press release.
Ideally, the surveillance models and systems used in this study could be implemented in a wide range of geographic areas as a public health measure and early alert system for these deadly epidemics that become more common every year.
This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for information purposes only.
Learn more:: New variant Covid NB.1.8.1 Spreads in the United States, prefiguring a probable summer wave
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com Use studies evaluated by high -quality peers and sources for our articles, and our publishers examine scientific precision and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
As a Marketing Coordinator of Discover magazine, Stephanie Edwards interacts with readers through the social networks of Discover and writes digital content. Offline, she is responsible for courses in English and cultural studies at Lakehead University, by teaching lessons on everything, from professional communication to Taylor Swift, and obtained her graduate diplomas in the same department of McMaster University. You can find more of its scientific writing in the laboratory and its short fiction in anthologies and the literary magazine through the kind of horror.
