Two mechanisms for accelerated diffusion of COVID-19 outbreaks in regions with high intensity of population and polluting industrialization: the air pollution-to-human and human-to-human transmission dynamics

Mario Coccia

is the (which was not peer-reviewed) The copyright holder for this preprint . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.06.20055657 doi: medRxiv preprint 26 | P a g e Coccia M. (2020) Two mechanisms for accelerated diffusion of COVID-19 outbreaks in regions with high intensity of population and polluting industrialization: the air pollution-to-human and human-to-human transmission dynamics appropriate conditions for microbial community structure and abundance, and viral infectivity (Jones and Harrison, 2004) . Zhong et al. (2018) argue that static meteorological conditions may explain the increase of PM2.5. In general, bacterial communities during aerosol pollution are influenced by bacterial adaptive mechanisms, particle composition, and meteorological conditions. The particles could also act as carriers, which have complex adsorption and toxicity effects on bacteria (Wei et al., 2020) . Certain particle components are also available as nutrition for bacteria and the toxic effect dominates in heavy pollution. The differences in bacterial adaptability towards airborne pollutants cause bacterial survival or death for different species. Groulx et al. (2018) argue that microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi in addition to other biological matter like endotoxins and spores comingle with particulate matter (PM) air pollutants. Hence, microorganisms may be influenced by interactions with ambient particles leading to the inhibition or enhancement of viability and environmental stability (e.g., tolerance to variation in seasonality, temperature, humidity, etc.). Moreover, Groulx et al. (2018) claim that in the case of microbial agents of communicable disease, such as viruses, the potential for interactions with pollution may have public health implications. Groulx et al. (2018 Groulx et al. ( , p. 1106 ) describe an experimental platform to investigate the implications of viral infectivity changes: Preliminary evidence suggests that the interactions between airborne viruses and airborne fine particulate matter influence viral stability and infectivity ….. The development of a platform to study interactions between artificial bio aerosols and concentrated ambient particles provides an opportunity to investigate the direction, magnitude and mechanistic basis of these effects, and to study their health implications.… The interactions of PM2.5 with Φ6 bacteriophages decreased viral infectivity compared to treatment with HEPA 2 -filtered air alone; By contrast, ΦX174, a non-enveloped virus, displayed increased infectivity when treated with PM2.5 particles relative to controls treated only with HEPA-filtered air.