The United States may have set itself up for the spread of a pandemic without even knowing it.
According to new research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, pollution may bear part of the blame for the rapid proliferation in the United States of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
The research, from the lab of Rajan Chakrabarty, associate professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, was published online ahead of print in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
When it comes to how ill someone gets after contracting COVID-19, medical professionals believe that a person’s health — having certain medical conditions, for example — can play a vital role. When it comes to how fast the virus can spread through the community, it turns out the health of the environment is directly correlated to the basic reproduction ratio R0, which denotes the expected number of people each sick person can infect.
Our government really needs to do a lot more work in giving us clean air to breathe as well.
Winter has not even started yet and I have to live under a blanket of wood smoke. We still have not put our central heating on yet and, in the main, I am still sitting around in a T-shirt with windows that I dare not have open. What is wrong with some people? Money to burn, whilst others with hungry kids rely on food banks!
Everything is upside down 2G. Wood burners are very popular in our town and the air gets dreadful in winter. Generally we have a lot of wind too which helps a bit. But I have the same experience as you. We are advised that indoor air can be more polluted and worse for us - we air our house regularly with back and front windows open but do it first thing in the morning before the woodburner pollution has built up.
Yes early in the morning is the best time, we live in a valley and all the muck seems to descend and collect in it. Plus a main access road into the city from the M27, so only a short time available before the rush hour.
Poor you and O2Trees. I don't think the polluting effect of wood burners has been sufficiently publicised in the past. Or bonfires, come to that. Or road traffic. We can only keep plugging away at those with any influence.
I couldn't be in the same room as my daughter's wood burner. She has since moved and now only has electric heating thank goodness! Like a lot of us I am very sensitive to any form of air pollution. Its better than it was when I was young ( everyone had a coal fire,everyone smoked etc) but a lot of respiratory problems are due to this.
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