Changes in U.S. air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected air quality due to extreme changes in human behavior. We assessed the air quality response to different emergency levels during different COVID-19 periods and the naught period in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). We obtained the following conclusions: (1) The measures implemented to prevent and control of COVID-19 directly impacted ambient air pollutants. The air quality index and the concentrations of NO2, PM2.5, PM10, and CO in the GBA for 1–19 January 2020 declined 19.4%, 16.7%, 27.5%, 15.8%, and 25.7%, respectively, compared to the same time period in 2016–2019. (2) The reduction in air pollution was strongly associated with the first-level emergency response during this pandemic. The AQI, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, O3, and CO in the GBA decreased by 37.4%, 47.0%, 40.5%, 44.8%, 6.7%, and 24.1%, respectively. We found no statistically significant difference in the concentrations of different pollutants, except for NO2, during the second- and third-level responses. (3) The higher the emergency response level, the greater the NO2 pollutants reduction. The NO2 concentration was reduced by 47.0%, 25.5%, and 12.1% at emergency response levels 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The results highlight the importance of understanding the role of emergency response in air quality, and provide reference for authorities to formulate more scientific and reasonable emergency responses to epidemic prevention and control.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began during early 2020, had been a worldwide problem, resulting in significant fatalities. In China, the pandemic resulted in strict lockdowns, restricted movement, and reduced transportation. This resulted in improvement of air quality in many cities in China. The objective of the study is to compare the nature of air quality pre-COVID period (2018-2019) and during COVID period (2020-2201). The following air quality parameters were investigated, air quality index (AQI), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). The present investigation results will augment to the current understanding on the air pollution situation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Jiangsu Province in China. The study revealed that air quality in Jiangsu Province improved during the months when COVID-19 positive cases increased. The reduction in air pollutants concentrations started during 2020 and reached a maximum during 2021. Overall the air quality index (AQI) improved by 8.2 % and air pollutant reductions achieved were, PMs (≈ 21%), SO2 (26.2 %), NO2 (13.6 %), O3 (2.4 %) and CO (10.4 %). Cities in Jiangsu Province with high air pollutant concentrations achieved a moderate reduction. The correlation between air pollutants and AQI was positive except for O3. The implications of the study are, reduction of fossil fuel powered vehicles and industrial activity can make notable positive impact on the air quality of the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic and public health response to the pandemic has caused huge setbacks in the management of other infectious diseases. In the present study, we aimed to (i) assess the trends in numbers of samples from patients with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory syndrome tested for influenza and the number and proportion of cases detected from 2015–2021 and (ii) examine if there were changes during the COVID-19 period (2020–2021) compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (2015–2019) in three states of India. The median (IQR) number of samples tested per month during the pre-COVID-19 period was 653 (395–1245), compared to 27 (11–98) during the COVID-19 period (p value < 0.001). The median (IQR) number of influenza cases detected per month during the pre-COVID-19 period was 190 (113–372), compared to 29 (27–30) during the COVID-19 period (p value < 0.001). Interrupted time series analysis (adjusting for seasonality and testing charges) confirmed a significant reduction in the total number of samples tested and influenza cases detected during the COVID-19 period. However, there was no change in the influenza positivity rate between pre-COVID-19 (29%) and COVID-19 (30%) period. These findings suggest that COVID-19-related disruptions, poor health-seeking behavior, and overburdened health systems might have led to a reduction in reported influenza cases rather than a true reduction in disease transmission.

The global COVID-19 pandemic is not finished yet, so it’s taught us a lot of lessons already-the hard way. The current situation is dominated by studies on identifying the factors that impact, taking preventive steps and trying to find successful care at the top of the list. Countries around the globe have made some arrangement of lockdown in order to slow down their infection. However this lockdown makes some positive effect on air quality and substantial reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) air pollution worldwide. Luckily, NASA collected the images over Sentinel-5p satellite broadcasting using TROPOMI (TROPPspheric Monitoring Instrument) and issues the various images of major city of Pakistan before and after lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on the Pakistan air pollution.

Maternal HIV infection is associated with increased risks of pregnancy complications and adverse perinatal outcomes, particularly in high-prevalence settings like South Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare access, potentially exacerbating challenges in antenatal care and HIV management. To our knowledge, limited South African data exist regarding the impact of maternal HIV on birth complications and perinatal birth outcomes especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study thus evaluates the impact of maternal HIV on pregnancy and perinatal outcomes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using archived chart records from a tertiary hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A retrospective analysis of 8456 birth records from March 2019 to December 2020 was conducted, categorized into pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Data were stratified by maternal HIV status and analyzed for demographics, antenatal care attendance, ART regimens, labor characteristics, and birth outcomes. Statistical tests, including Chi-square and logistic regression, were used to assess associations between HIV status and outcomes. Hospital attendance declined during the COVID-19 period, especially among women living with HIV, whose age ranged between 19 and 35years, and were multigravida, and multiparous. Antenatal care attendance was suboptimal and worsened during the COVID-19 period. ART coverage remained high with maintained viral suppression. Women living with HIV had shorter "active labor" and higher elective cesarean rates during the COVID-19 period. Preterm birth risk was also higher pre-pandemic among women living with HIV but not significantly different during COVID-19 period. Birth weights were lower in HIV-exposed infants pre-pandemic with a non-significant shift during COVID-19 period. Sepsis incidence increased among women living with HIV during COVID-19 period. No maternal deaths were reported. A decline in hospital attendance was noted during the COVID-19 period among women living with HIV, with antenatal care attendance being suboptimal and exacerbated. Maternal HIV remains a critical factor influencing birth outcomes, necessitating sustained focus on tailored care during crises to protect vulnerable populations.

BackgroundThe opioid crisis in the United States may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in opioid use, emergency medical services (EMS) runs for opioid-related overdoses, and opioid overdose deaths have been reported. No study has examined changes in multiple naloxone administrations, an indicator of overdose severity, during the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThis study examines changes in the occurrence of naloxone administrations and multiple naloxone administrations during EMS runs for opioid-related overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guilford County, North Carolina (NC).MethodsUsing a period-over-period approach, we compared the occurrence of opioid-related EMS runs, naloxone administrations, and multiple naloxone administrations during the 29-week period before (September 1, 2019, to March 9, 2020) and after NC’s COVID-19 state of emergency declaration (ie, the COVID-19 period of March 10 to September 30, 2020). Furthermore, historical data were used to generate a quasi-control distribution of period-over-period changes to compare the occurrence of each outcome during the COVID-19 period to each 29-week period back to January 1, 2014.ResultsAll outcomes increased during the COVID-19 period. Compared to the previous 29 weeks, the COVID-19 period experienced increases in the weekly mean number of opioid-related EMS runs (25.6, SD 5.6 vs 18.6, SD 6.6; P<.001), naloxone administrations (22.3, SD 6.2 vs 14.1, SD 6.0; P<.001), and multiple naloxone administrations (5.0, SD 1.9 vs 2.7, SD 1.9; P<.001), corresponding to proportional increases of 37.4%, 57.8%, and 84.8%, respectively. Additionally, the increases during the COVID-19 period were greater than 91% of all historical 29-week periods analyzed.ConclusionsThe occurrence of EMS runs for opioid-related overdoses, naloxone administrations, and multiple naloxone administrations during EMS runs increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guilford County, NC. For a host of reasons that need to be explored, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have exacerbated the opioid crisis.

IntroductionThe short and long-term effects of covid infection are still being explored. Following a series of joint infections noted in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, we explored if there was any difference in the incidence of these joint infections when compared to pre-COVID era.AimThe aim of this study was to determine the incidence of native joint infections during COVID and pre-COVID period and compare the two groups for any differences.MethodologyPatients diagnosed with septic arthritis over the 15th months of lockdown were studied and were compared with the same period prior to Covid-19 infection. The patient characteristics, the rate of septic arthritis, the presence of recent Covid-19 infection, delay in diagnosis and the difference in the microbiology between the two groups was studied.ResultsThere were 36 joint infections during the COVID period in comparison to 46 joint infections during pre-COVID period. Both groups had similar mean age. Knee was the most common joint involved in both groups. About 50% (n = 18) of the joint infections during the COVID period did not grow any micro-organisms even after extended culture, which was higher in comparison to the pre-COVID group (35%, n = 16).ConclusionThe culture negative group have significantly reduced markers of infection. The was no increase in the rate of septic arthritis however there was an increase in culture negative arthritis denoting a possible outbreak of reactive arthritis in the Covid-19 period.

Despite the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine, Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a cause of invasive diseases in Brazil. This study provides the distribution of serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for pneumococcal isolates before and during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic in two age groups, <5 and ≥50 years. This is a national laboratory-based surveillance study that uses data from the Brazilian national laboratory for invasive S. pneumoniae from the pre-COVID-19 (January 2016 to January 2020) and COVID-19 (February 2020 to May 2022) periods. Antimicrobial resistance was evaluated by disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration. The year 2020 was marked by a 44.6% reduction in isolates received and was followed by an upward trend from 2021 onwards, which became evident in 2022. No differences were observed in serotypes distribution between the studied periods. The COVID-19 period was marked by the high prevalence of serotypes 19A, 3, and 6C in both age groups. Serotypes 19A and 6C were related to non-antimicrobial susceptibility. We observed a reduction in S. pneumoniae, without changes in serotypes distribution and epidemiological capsular switch during the COVID-19 period. We observed elevated resistance rates, mainly to penicillin and ceftriaxone for non-meningitis cases in children under 5 years of age.

Assessing access to obstetrical care via telehealth in the era of COVID-19

This study aimed to compare the changes in physical activity (PA), chronic disease, and mental health indicators of Koreans before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, using raw data from more than 400,000 representative samples from the 2019-2020 Community Health Survey by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to explore the correlations among them. We used two-way ANOVA to analyze changes and differences in PA and obesity levels. We assessed the influence of gender and recurrent PA using chi-square tests for mental health status and chronic disease. Finally, we performed a correlation analysis to determine the relationships among PA days, mental health, and chronic disease. The results showed that, compared to the levels before the COVID-19 period, moderate-intensity (Days: 1.415~1.217; Time: 114.688~107.321) and high-intensity (Days: 0.798~0.671; Time: 112.866~106.110) PA significantly decreased in Koreans during the COVID-19 period, while low-intensity (Time: 60.305~61.735) PA increased. Before and during the COVID-19 period, men (18,436 (8.1%)~16,124 (7.0%)) performed PA more regularly than women (13,207 (5.8%)~9382 (4.1%)). Compared to the number of regular PA participants before the COVID-19 period, regular PA participants (male, female) decreased from 31,643 (13.8%) to 25,506 (11.1%) during the COVID-19 period. Compared with the levels before the COVID-19 period, the experience rates of stress (3.1%~2.6%), depression (0.8%~0.6%), HBP (3.0%~2.2%), and diabetes (1.2%~0.9%) significantly changed under different levels of conventional PA intervention. In addition, the obesity rate during the COVID-19 period (23.957) was higher than it was before COVID-19 (23.477). During the COVID-19 period, the PA of Koreans was greatly restricted, but low-intensity PA was maintained and increased. PA is an effective activity for maintaining mental health and for preventing and reducing chronic diseases. Recommendations for appropriate intensity or a combination of high-, moderate-, and low-intensity PA should be based on the health status of Koreans to help them maintain mental health and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases during COVID-19 social distancing.

Europe is a highly urbanised continent. In 1990, more than 70% of its total population lived in cities. The concentration of human activities on a relatively small area causes enormous pressure on the natural system and has led to numerous environmental problems. In the last decade air quality problems and associated topics like exposure of citizens have been addressed through case studies. One of the first attempts to describe the air quality in a number of cities and investigate (dis)similarities between them was made within the GEMS-AIR project. In 1992, WHO/UNEP published a report “Urban Air Pollution in Megacities of the World”, summarising air quality data for the 20 most populated cities of the world (WHO/UNEP, 1992). WHO recently published their Concern for Europe’s Tomorrow study (WHO, 1994) in which an assessment of urban air quality and potential population exposure is given for European cities with more than 50.000 inhabitants; however this was not done through comparative city analysis but through statistical analysis of European air pollution concentration and population density fields.

Assessment of Ambient Air Quality in an Urban Ecosystem

COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on general health.In fact, although barely affected by respiratory problems, children and adolescents undoubtedly suffered from the consequences of the pandemic, especially from a psychological standpoint.We aimed to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic modified the indications and the results of Exercise Challenge Tests (ECTs) conducted in a pediatric pulmonology center.This was an observational retrospective monocenter study.We analyzed indications and results of all the ECTs performed between March 2021 and September 2022 (COVID-19 period) and, for comparison, those performed between September 2018 and March 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period).62 ECTs were performed during the COVID-19 period and 64 during the pre-COVID-19 (proportion of positive test 19.3% and 18.7%, respectively).During the COVID-19 period there was a significant increase (18 vs 4) in the number of ECTs requested because of a mix of subjective respiratory symptoms and vague non-respiratory symptoms and all these tests resulted negative.During the pandemic era we observed an increased number of children and adolescents complaining mixed subjective exercise-related respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms.The ECTs conducted in these patients were all negative, suggesting a functional nature for the reported symptoms. IMPACT STATEMENT:The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced pediatric health, especially from a psychological standpont.We analyzed Exercise Challenge Tests (ECTs) performed before and during Covid-19 Pandemic.We demonstrated that during the COVID-19 period there was a significant increase in the number of ECTs requested because of a mix of subjective respiratory symptoms and vague non-respiratory symptoms and all these ECTs resulted negative.

e18506 Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems postponed routine screening and care to conserve resources and reduce patient exposure. As a result, several studies have shown a decline in the diagnosis of new cancer cases, a process that relies heavily on the use of screening tools and modalities. The Washington D.C. area is home to a heterogeneous patient population and one of the highest income gaps in the United States. Patterns in healthcare inequality in the area mirror these disparities. This study aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis rates compared to prior years and analyze whether vulnerable populations in the D.C. area were disproportionately affected. Methods: Data was collected from the George Washington University (GWU) Cancer Registry. The study population included patients age 18 and up residing in D.C., Maryland or Virginia who were diagnosed with any cancer at the GWU Health System within the following date ranges: April 1 to September 30 of 2018, 2019, 2020 and September 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020. Data collected included age at diagnosis, race, ethnicity, cancer site, stage at diagnosis, and patient zip code as a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES). Median income by zip code was labeled as low, middle or high. Chi square analysis was used to compare changes in each of these demographic and SES categories between each time frame. Results: There were 372 new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period, April 1 2020 to September 30 2020. During this time period in 2018 and 2019, there were 525 and 539 new cancer diagnoses, respectively. Immediately prior to the COVID-19 period, September 1 2019 to February 29 2020, there were 588 new cancer diagnoses. Patterns of cancer type, age at diagnosis, sex, clinical stage, pathological stage and SES did not significantly differ between the COVID-19 period and any other time period (p &gt; 0.05 for all categories). However, ethnicity did change significantly with a slight increase in the number of Hispanic patients diagnosed during the COVID-19 period as compared to the 2018 and 2019 time periods (p = 0.041) and the September 2019 to February 2020 time period (p = 0.0005). Conclusions: Through this retrospective analysis, we observed a decrease in new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period with no significant differences in patient age, sex, cancer type, cancer stage or SES. There was a slight increase in cancer diagnoses among Hispanic patients during the COVID-19 period. These results suggest that most groups were equally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to cancer diagnosis. However, this may be specific to the region we studied and limited by the population size and our means of collecting data about patient SES. Further studies comparing early and late impacts of COVID-19 on cancer care will be important to identify specific communities for targeted outreach and intervention.

The COVID-19 situation is a critical state throughout the world that most countries have been forced to implement partial to total lockdown to control the COVID-19 disease outbreak. And displays the natural power to rejuvenate herself without the interference of human beings. So, the top-level emergency response including full quarantine actions are significant measures against the COVID-19 and resulted in a notable reduction in PM2.5 in the atmosphere. India was severely attacked by COVID-19, and as a result, the Government of India has imposed a nationwide lockdown from 24th March (2020) to 30th May (2020) in different phases. The COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown had a significant negative impact on India's socioeconomic structure but had a positive impact on environmental sustainability in terms of improved air quality due to the 68 days of the shutdown of India's industrial, commercial, construction, and transportation systems. The current study looked at the spatio-temporal changes in PM2.5 concentrations at different air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) in Kolkata during the COVID-19 period. The study revealed that the average concentration of PM2.5 (µg/m3) was slightly high (139.82) in the pre-lockdown period which was rapidly reduced to 37.77 (72.99% reduction) during the lockdown period and it was further increased (137.11) in post-lockdown period. The study also shows that the average concentration of PM2.5 was 66.83 in 2018, which slightly increased to 70.43 (5.39%) in 2019 and dramatically decreased to 37.77 (46.37%) in the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. The study clearly shows that air quality improves during lockdown periods in Kolkata, but it is not a permanent solution rather than temporary. Therefore, it is necessary to make the proper policies and strategies by policymakers and government authorities, and environmental scientists to maintain such good air quality by controlling several measures of air pollutants.