Temperature has ‘modest’ influence on SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates
A new review finds that warmer temperatures are connected with lower rates of SARS-CoV-2. However, the researchers say that the result is modest and warn against the leisure of containment measures.
Some viruses display seasonal behavior. Influenza conditions, for example, peak during the fall and winter season, often called the flu time. There are various known reasons for this, incorporating biological factors linked to the virus, along with social and environmental factors.
The seasonality of the flu virus has raised hopes that the same may be true for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and that cases of the virus may, therefore, lower over the summer months.
Indeed, laboratory data advise that SARS-CoV-2 survives for a shorter period in bigger temperatures. However, the result of temperature on the real-world transmitting of the virus happens to be unclear.
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In addition to temperature, UV light also has a powerful effect on viral agents. Persons routinely use specific wavelengths of UV light, referred to as UV-C, to disinfect surfaces in laboratories and hospitals.
It's possible that the summer weather, with its increased sunlight, may possibly also affect the transmission on the ground.
Researchers in Mount Auburn Hospital found in Cambridge, MA, have finally analyzed the impression of these factors on real-life transmitting rates. And UV index and temperature, the researchers considered the result of precipitation amounts on the charge of disease, applying real-world info on the number of COVID-19 conditions occurring in the usa.
They discovered that temperature and UV both have a small influence on transmission, but precipitation seemingly has none.
The findings appear in total in the journal Clinical Infectious Disorders.
Linking weather info to COVID-19 cases
The researchers assessed the quantity of cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reported each day over the U.S. from January 22 to April 3, 2020, applying Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
They combined this with state-level data on heat, precipitation, and UV index from the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The team then evaluated the associations between your sets of data using regression analysis, a statistical methodology that estimates the relationships between variables.
Although previous studies have viewed the effect of temperature and UV light on SARS-CoV-2 in the lab, it is the 1st study to determine the impact of these factors on virus transmission locally.
“[T]his is probably among the first peer-reviewed analyses that examine the affect that temperature, precipitation, and UV light have in terms of virus transmission found in the general population over the U.S.”
- Dr. Shiv T. Sehra, first author and director of the inner Medicine Residency Program at Mount Auburn Hospital
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com
