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Higher airborne pollen concentrations correlated with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection rates, as evidenced from 31 countries across the globe

2021; National Academy of Sciences; Volume: 118; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1073/pnas.2019034118

1091-6490

Athanasios Damialis, Stefanie Gilles, Mikhail Sofiev, Viktoria Sofieva, Franziska Kolek, Daniela Bayr, Maria Pilar Plaza, Vivien Leier-Wirtz, Sigrid Kaschuba, Lewis H. Ziska, Leonard Bielory, László Makra, M.M. Trigo, Claudia Traidl‐Hoffmann, G. Oliver, N. Pham‐Thi, M. Thibaudon, Arturo H. Ariño, Jordina Belmonte, Patricia Cervigón Morales, Concepción De Linares, Delia Fernández‐González, Santiago Fernández-Rodríguez, Antonia Gabaldón Arguisuelas, Carmen Galán, Mónica González-Alonso, Beatriz Lara, J. Moreno, José Oteros, Rosa Pérez-Badía, Anabel Pérez-de-Zabalza, Antonio Picornell, Marta Recio, Estrella Robles Domínguez, Alberto Rodríguez-Fernández, F. Javier Rodríguez‐Rajo, Jesús Rojo, Luís Ruíz Valenzuela, Karl‐Christian Bergmann, Barbora Werchan, Matthias Werchan, Jeroen Buters, Maximilian Bastl, Susanne Dunker, Thomas Hornick, Nestor González Roldán, Stefan Gilge, Bernard Clot, Stanley Finemann, Linda B. Ford, Robert Gomez, Sanjay Kamboj, Wayne Wilhelm, Paul J. Beggs, Pamela Burton, Janet M. Davies, Simon Haberle, Constance H. Katelaris, Ben Keaney, Anđelija Milić, Victoria J. Miller, Shanice Van Haeften, Maira Bonini, Anna Bordin, Valentina Ceriotti, Fabiana Cristofolini, Antonella Cristofori, Elena Gottardini, G Marcer, Paolo Marraccini, Paolo Mascagni, A. Meriggi, Loretta Pace, A. Pini, Maria Cristina Tacca, Nicolas Bruffaerts, Lucie Hoebeke, Beverley Adams‐Groom, Catherine H. Pashley, Jack Satchwell, Carsten Ambelas Skjøth, Fiona A. Symon, Célia M. Antunes, Elsa Caeiro, Irene Camacho, Ana Rodrigues Costa, Ricardo João Ratola Capela Deus, Manuel Branco Ferreira, João Fonseca, Ana Galveias, Helena Ribeiro, Beatriz Tavares, Łukasz Grewling, Agnieszka Grinn‐Gofroń, Dariusz Jurkiewicz, Ewa Kalinowska, Agnieszka Lipiec, Dorota Myszkowska, Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko, Małgorzata Puc, Anna Rapiejko, Piotr Rapiejko, Elżbieta Weryszko‐Chmielewska, Monika Ziemianin, Dilys Berman, Werner Hoek, A I Manjra, Jonny Peter, Åslög Dahl, Agneta Ekebom, Barbara Stjepanović, Ana Večenaj, Sevcan Çelenk, Özlem Göksel, Tuncay Göksel, Aykut Güvensen, Nur Münevver Pınar, Cansın Saçkesen, Aydar Acar Sahin, Ulaş Uğuz, Duygu Yazıcı, Dóra Kajitor-Apatini, Donát Magyar, Tamás Szigeti, Branko Šikoparija, Andreja Kofol Seliger, Anja Simčič, Jae‐Won Oh, Athanasios Charalampopoulos, Despoina Vokou, Karen Rasmussen, Laura Barrionuevo, German D. Ramón, Letty A. de Weger, Mieke Koenders, A.J.H. van Vliet, Jozef Dušička, Janka Lafférsová, Jana Ščevková, Ondřej Rybníček, Frances Coates, Dawn Jurgens, Ingrida Šaulienė, Elena Severova, Victoria Rodinkova, Mykyta Bortnyk, Olena Palamarchuk, Maryna Yasniuk, Maria Louna‐Korteniemi, Sanna Pätsi, Annika Saarto, Linnea Toiviainen, Olga Sozinova, Peng Jia,

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research

Significance Coexposure to airborne pollen enhances susceptibility to respiratory viral infections, regardless of the allergy status. We hypothesized this could be also true for SARS-CoV-2 infections. To investigate this, we tested for relationships between SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and pollen concentrations, along with humidity, temperature, population density, and lockdown effects. Our unique dataset derives from 130 sites in 31 countries and across five continents. We found that pollen, sometimes in synergy with humidity and temperature, explained, on average, 44% of the infection rate variability. Lockdown halved infection rates under similar pollen concentrations. As we cannot completely avoid pollen exposure, we suggest wide dissemination of pollen−virus coexposure information to encourage high-risk individuals to wear particle filter masks during high springtime pollen concentrations.