Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Tung, Nguyen Thanh
• Cheng, Po-Ching
• Chi, Kai-Hsien
• Hsiao, Ta-Chi
• Jones, Timothy
• BéruBé, Kelly
• Ho, Kin-Fai
• Chuang, Hsiao-Chi

Titel

Particulate matter and SARS-CoV-2: A possible model of COVID-19 transmission

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2021-01, Vol.750, p.141532-141532, Article 141532

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an acute respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly developed into a pandemic throughout the world. This disease is a highly infectious novel coronavirus and can affect people of all ages. Previous reports observed that particulate matter (PM) provided a platform for intermixing with viruses (i.e., influenza). However, the role of PM in SARS-CoV-2 transmission remains unclear. In this paper, we propose that PM plays a direct role as a “carrier” of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 is reported to have a high affinity for the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Indirectly, exposure to PM increases ACE2 expression in the lungs which facilitates SARS-CoV-2 viral adhesion. Thus, the high risk of SARS-CoV-2 in heavily polluted regions can be explained by upregulation of ACE2 caused by PM. PM could be both a direct and indirect transmission model for SARS-CoV-2 infection.