Jahnavi Sarma
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Antibodies in COVID-19 patients may decline within 2-3 months, suggest researchers.
Many studies have shown that some respiratory viruses have very clear seasonal fluctuations. Influenza and several many other types of coronaviruses are known to surge in the winter months. Outbreaks of enteroviruses usually happen in the summer while some adenoviruses and rhinoviruses have no obvious seasonal cycle. In the present context, scientists are wondering how the COVID-19 virus will behave as the season changes. There are many studies that are going on to evaluate this. But there is no doubt that experts anticipate some seasonal impact on the spread of the novel coronavirus, though the exact relationship is not clear as yet. But nations in the Southern Hemisphere have indeed seen a wintertime surge in confirmed cases. Hence, there are concerns about what the Northern Hemisphere can expect once winter arrives there.
Now, new research adds to the growing body of evidence that low humidity and dry air can increase the risk of COVID-19 virus. A new study at the University of Sydney in Australia says that low humidity and dry air can significantly increase the risk of COVID-19 infection. The study, published in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, focused on the Greater Sydney area during the early epidemic stage of pandemic. Researchers found an association between lower humidity and an increase in community transmission. According to them, humidity is a key factor in the spread of COVID-19.
According to researchers, there is about a 2-fold increase in COVID-19 notifications for a 10 per cent drop in relative humidity. They say that dry air appears to favour the spread of this infectious viral disease. This means that time of the year and geographical location is significant. Accumulating evidence shows that climate plays an important role in COVID-19 transmission, raising the prospect of seasonal disease outbreaks.
The study revealed that reduced humidity was found in several different regions of Sydney to be consistently linked to increased cases. The same link was not found for other weather factors - rainfall, temperature or wind. Additional evidence from the Sydney COVID-19 epidemic has confirmed cases that can be associated with humidity.
According to the researchers, there are biological reasons why humidity matters in the transmission of airborne viruses. When the humidity is lower, the air is drier, and it makes the aerosols smaller. When you sneeze and cough, those smaller infectious aerosols can stay suspended in the air for longer. That increases the risk of exposure for other people. Researchers say that when the air is humid and the aerosols are larger and heavier, they fall and hit surfaces quicker. This suggests the need for people to wear a face mask, both to prevent infectious aerosols escaping into the air in the case of an infectious individual and exposure to infectious aerosols in the case of an uninfected individual.
However, an earlier a study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that temperature and latitude are not associated with the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
(With inputs from IANS)