“Yes, it is plausible. It has been said that many mostly older people (the average is 80 years old) died not of coronavirus but from the virus. People already debilitated, that is, with diseases also triggered by environmental pollution, no longer had an efficient immune system. I remember that at the moment there are no doctors capable of diagnosing a dust disease. In a European project (DIPNA) of nanotoxicology, we have already shown that cells attacked by nanopowders no longer have a defense system capable of reacting “.
Antonietta Gatti is a physicist, one of the leading experts in nanoparticle toxicity internationally. She led the biomaterials laboratory of the neuroscience department at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and was a consultant to the parliamentary commission of inquiry on depleted uranium. She was responsible for the decisive studies on the deaths (of cancer) of the Italian military returned from the Balkans, it was she – in 2004 – who found the nanoparticles in the tissues of malformed lambs born in Sardinia near the Interforces Polygon of Salto di Quirra. Nanoparticles produced by the explosion of bullets and grenades. He has signed dozens of publications and scientific articles.
Dr. Gatti, can fine particles present in the air compromise the defenses of the human body “attacked” by the coronavirus?
“It has already been demonstrated by the School of Leuven (Belgium) that nanometric powders (0.1micron), if they reach the alveoli, pass the lung barrier in 60 seconds and in an hour they can reach the liver and kidneys and from there reach all the sites of the body, none excluded. This fact is known by scientists, so much so that the World Health Organization has already estimated 7,000,000 deaths each year from lung, cardiovascular and brain diseases due to pollution. It is obvious that, in a system already compromised by environmental dust that is responsible for an inflammatory state, a further insult, moreover infectious, can accelerate death “.
This relationship between the ‘effectiveness’ of the virus and smog has not yet been scientifically proven, but if this relationship existed, because polluted cities like New Delhi have so far been affected only marginally by Covid-19
“First of all, one wonders what assessments have been made on the population. It is to be considered that most of the virus carriers are perfectly asymptomatic and, therefore, escape detection. Then, we do not know if an epidemic could break out there in the near future. There may, however, also be a high explanation. The virus cannot resist temperatures above less than thirty degrees, that is, it is sensitive to heat and denature, it does not replicate and dies ”.
The issue of the relationship between viruses and air pollution is gaining attention from the media and the scientific community in these days of health emergency. There Italian society of environmental medicine, the Aldo Moro University of Bari and the Alma Mater of Bologna have just published a ‘position paper’ on this topic. “With regard to studies on the spread of viruses in the population – reads – there is a solid scientific literature that correlates the incidence of cases of viral infection with concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (eg PM10 and PM2.5) (1, 2) . In the case of previous cases of viral infections, scientific research has highlighted some characteristics of the spread of viruses in relation to concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter “.
The twelve researchers who signed the paper recall some precedents:
(2010) avian influenza can be spread over long distances through Asian dust storms that carry the virus. Researchers have shown that there is an exponential correlation between the amount of cases of infection (Overall Cumulative Relative Risk RR) and the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 (μg m-3) (4)
(2016) there is a relationship between the spread of human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children and concentrations of particulate matter. This virus causes pneumonia in children and is carried through particulate matter deep into the lungs. The spread rate of the infection (Average RSV positive rate%) is related to the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 (μg m-3) (5).
(2017) the number of measles cases in 21 Chinese cities in the 2013-2014 period varies in relation to PM2.5 concentrations. The researchers show that an increase in PM2.5 concentrations of 10 μg / m3 significantly affects the increase in the number of measles virus cases (6). The researchers suggest reducing PM2.5 concentrations to reduce the spread of the infection.
(2020) one of the major factors of daily spread of the measles virus in Lanzhou (China) are the levels of pollution of atmospheric particulates (7). In relation to the evidence that the incidence of measles is associated with exposure to environmental PM2.5 in China, researchers suggest that effective air pollution reduction policies can reduce the incidence of measles.
The graph highlights a linear relationship (R2 = 0.98), grouping the Provinces into 5 classes on the basis of the number of infected cases (on a logarithmic scale: infected logs), in relation to the exceedances of the PM10 concentration limit for each of the 5 classes of provinces (average by class: average no. of exceedances of PM10 / no. of Prov. units) This analysis seems to indicate a direct relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and the PM10 pollution status of the territories, consistently with what now well described by the most recent scientific literature for other viral infections. (Source: Sima)
The relationship between the cases of COVID-19 and PM10 suggests an interesting reflection on the fact that the concentration of the major outbreaks occurred precisely in the Po Valley while fewer cases of infection occurred in other areas of Italy. (Source: Sima)
Doctor, is air pollution a transmission vector that can promote the spread of a virus?
“The air is full of dust as we well know from the values of the ARPA control units and the legal limits are repeatedly exceeded even very abundantly. The controlled ones are powders of size 10-2.5 microns, but there are also powders well below the micron: Powders that have dimensions comparable with those of a virus. An interaction is not only possible, but it is probable. The creation of an organic-inorganic entity, once in the human body, is not easily eradicated. This interaction can also occur inside the alveoli already full of dust. On these substrates the virus can easily replicate. ”
What did you think of this virus from a molecular point of view? Why is it so lethal compared to other coronaviruses?
“The creation of an organic-inorganic entity cannot be beaten with normal drugs. For years we have been studying this nano-bio-interaction of nanoparticles with proteins in the human body and we have identified these new organic-inorganic entities in the blood of patients with pathologies such as, for example, leukemia. This virus attacks the lungs, and those of the elderly, smokers and those with other pathologies such as, for example, diabetes, who have defense capabilities which, in some cases, may prove insufficient “.
The contrast to contagion through the isolation of people has produced effects in China, not yet in Italy. Is this how a virus “goes out”, preventing it from spreading? Is this strategy supported by all virologists correct?
“Each epidemic has an ascending phase which can also be rapid and a descending phase. You can try to stem the infection by isolating healthy people from sick people, thus avoiding infection. Unfortunately, we have no other defense weapons. In this globally interacting world, the fluttering of wings at one point has repercussions even at great distances, so much so that it becomes a storm in a distant point. The problem is that the economy will also follow this trend. ”
The common flu infects and kills thousands of people every year, and there is ongoing discussion about how much worse this infection is than others. It is?
“Influences that hesitated in pneumonia were already present in Italy since last October. Just ask family doctors and hospitals. Every year the flu causes several thousand deaths, estimated at 20,000 / year. Just check the statistics of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. ”
The paper edited by Sima and by the universities of Bologna and Bari is a work base that will have to be developed. Although, we still read, “these analyzes seem to show that, in relation to the period 10-29 February, high concentrations above the PM10 limit in some Provinces of Northern Italy may have exerted a boost action, that is, an impulse to the virulent spread of the epidemic in the Po Valley that has not been observed in other areas of Italy that had cases of infection in the same period. In this regard, the case of Rome is emblematic in which the presence of contagions was already manifested in the same days as the Po regions without however triggering such a virulent phenomenon. In addition to the concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter, as a vehicle for the virus, in some territorial areas, environmental conditions unfavorable to the viral inactivation rate may also have influenced. The working group is investigating these aspects to contribute to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon “.
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https://www.agi.it/cronaca/news/2020-03-22/contagi-morti-lombardia-coronavirus-7761453/
