Last Updated : Oct 25, 2020 02:50 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Wildfires may be linked to rise in COVID-19 cases, using antiviral mouthwash can curb spread, new studies find

Air pollution provides a means for viruses to move around the environment, a finding which may be of particular relevance to India, and Delhi where the pollution levels worsen during this season.

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Two recent studies have found as-yet-unreported or less  frequently reported ways in which the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 virus spreads and can be prevented from spreading.

In the first instance, researchers have found that wildfires, particularly wildfire smoke, may be linked to the increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in San Francisco. According to the researchers, who published their study in the journal European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, increase in smoke particles between March and September corresponded to increases in daily COVID-19 diagnoses and total COVID-19 deaths.

"Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic gas which can damage our lungs, resulting as a triggering factor for an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the wildfire region," coauthor Sultan Ayoub Meo of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia told news agency Reuters.

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He added that air pollution provides a means for viruses to move around the environment--- a finding which may be of particular relevance to India, and Delhi where the pollution levels worsen during this season.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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"The metrological, disaster management and health officials must implement the necessary policies and assist in planning to minimise the wildfire incidences, environmental pollution and COVID-19 pandemic both at regional and international levels," the authors said in their conclusion to the research.

Meanwhile, researchers have also found that antiviral mouthwash can in fact decrease COVID-19 transmission risk by reducing the viral loads in the mouths of infected patients when they cough, sneeze or speak--- the primary ways in which the virus is transmitted. According to a paper in the Journal of Dental Research, studies have found that cetylpyridinium chloride or povidone-iodine can reduce the oral coronavirus load.

This may be particularly important since many of the COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic and do not know that they have been infected. Using mouthwash, according to co-author of the study Dr. Florence Carrouel of University Claude Bernard Lyon in France, can reduce the transmission risk. She told Reuters that COVID-19 patients should use mouthwash regularly for seven to ten days.
First Published on Oct 25, 2020 02:50 pm

tags #coronavirus #Current Affairs #world