研究稱空氣污染程度與新冠致死率有關(guān)

研究稱空氣污染程度與新冠致死率有關(guān)

WASHINGTON — Coronavirus patients in areas that had high levels of air pollution before the pandemic are more likely to die from the infection than patients in cleaner parts of the country, according to a new nationwide study that offers the first clear link between long-term exposure to pollution and Covid-19 death rates.

華盛頓——一項新的全國性研究首次提供了長期暴露于污染和Covid-19死亡率之間的明確關(guān)聯(lián)，該研究表明，在疫情暴發(fā)前空氣污染嚴重的地區(qū)，其新冠病毒患者比該國污染較輕地區(qū)的新冠病毒患者更容易死于感染。

In an analysis of 3,080 counties in the United States, researchers at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that higher levels of the tiny, dangerous particles in air known as PM 2.5 were associated with higher death rates from the disease.

在對美國3080個縣進行的分析中，哈佛大學陳曾熙公共衛(wèi)生學院(Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)發(fā)現(xiàn)，空氣中細小而危險的PM2.5顆粒的高含量水平與該疾病的較高死亡率存在關(guān)聯(lián)。

For weeks, public health officials have surmised a link between dirty air and death or serious illness from Covid-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. The Harvard analysis is the first nationwide study to show a statistical link, revealing a “large overlap” between Covid-19 deaths and other diseases associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter.

數(shù)周以來，公共衛(wèi)生官員一直猜測被污染的空氣與冠狀病毒引起的Covid-19致死或重癥之間有關(guān)聯(lián)。哈佛大學的分析是全國首個表明統(tǒng)計學上存在關(guān)聯(lián)的研究，揭示了Covid-19死亡與長期暴露于細顆粒物相關(guān)的其他疾病之間的“重大重疊”。

“The results of this paper suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to experiencing the most severe Covid-19 outcomes,” the authors wrote.

作者寫道：“本文的結(jié)果表明，長期暴露于空氣污染中會增加遭受Covid-19最嚴重后果的易感性。”

The paper found that if Manhattan had lowered its average particulate matter level by just a single unit, or one microgram per cubic meter, over the past 20 years, the borough would most likely have seen 248 fewer Covid-19 deaths by this point in the outbreak.

該論文發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果曼哈頓在過去20年中將其平均顆粒物水平降低一個單位——也就是每立方米降低1微克，那么到了今天，該區(qū)很可能就能減少248例Covid-19死亡病例。

Over all, the research could have significant implications for how public health officials choose to allocate resources like ventilators and respirators as the coronavirus spreads. The paper has been submitted for peer review and publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.

總體而言，該研究可能會對公共衛(wèi)生官員在冠狀病毒傳播時期對呼吸機等資源的分配問題上產(chǎn)生重大影響。該論文已提交至《新英格蘭醫(yī)學雜志》(New England Journal of Medicine)進行同行評審和發(fā)表。

It found that just a slight increase in long-term pollution exposure could have serious coronavirus-related consequences, even accounting for other factors like smoking rates and population density.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，長期污染暴露的輕微上升就可能會帶來與冠狀病毒相關(guān)的嚴重后果，即使算上吸煙率和人口密度等其他因素也是如此。

For example, it found that a person living for decades in a county with high levels of fine particulate matter is 15 percent more likely to die from the coronavirus than someone in a region with one unit less of the fine particulate pollution.

例如，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在細顆粒物含量高的縣里生活了數(shù)十年的人比在細顆粒物污染小一個單位量的地區(qū)的人死于冠狀病毒的可能性要高15%。

The District of Columbia, for instance, is likely to have a higher death rate than the adjacent Montgomery County, Md. Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, should be worse than nearby Lake County, Ill. Fulton County, Ga., which includes Atlanta, is likely to suffer more deaths than the adjacent Douglas County.

例如，哥倫比亞特區(qū)的死亡率可能會比鄰近的馬里蘭州蒙哥馬里縣要高。包括芝加哥在內(nèi)的伊利諾伊州庫克縣的死亡率應(yīng)比附近的伊利諾伊州湖縣要糟糕。包括亞特蘭大在內(nèi)的喬治亞州富爾頓縣可能比相鄰的道格拉斯縣遭受更多的死亡。

“This study provides evidence that counties that have more polluted air will experience higher risks of death for Covid-19,” said Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard who led the study.

領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這項研究的哈佛大學生物統(tǒng)計學教授弗朗西斯卡·多米尼奇(Francesca Dominici)說：“這項研究提供的證據(jù)表明，空氣污染程度越高的縣，Covid-19的致死風險就越高。”

Counties with higher pollution levels, Dr. Dominici said, “will be the ones that will have higher numbers of hospitalizations, higher numbers of deaths and where many of the resources should be concentrated.”

多米尼奇博士表示，空氣污染水平較高的縣“將是那些住院人數(shù)、死亡人數(shù)較多，眾多資源應(yīng)該集中的縣。”

The study is part of a small but growing body of research, mostly still out of Europe, that offers a view into how a lifetime of breathing dirtier air can make people more susceptible to the coronavirus, which has already killed more than 10,000 people in the United States and 74,000 worldwide.

該研究是一項規(guī)模尚小但正在不斷增長中的研究的一部分——整體研究絕大部分仍在歐洲之外進行。這項研究為解釋終生呼吸污染程度更高的空氣是如何使人們更容易感染新冠病毒的提供了一種觀點。新冠病毒已經(jīng)在美國造成1萬多人死亡，在全世界造成7.4萬人死亡。

In the short term, Dr. Dominici and other public health experts said the study’s finding meant that places like the Central Valley of California, or Cuyahoga County, Ohio, may need to prepare for more severe cases of Covid-19.

多米尼奇博士和其他公共衛(wèi)生專家說，該發(fā)現(xiàn)意味著短期內(nèi)像加利福尼亞中央山谷或俄亥俄州凱霍加縣這樣的地方可能需要為更嚴重的Covid-19疫情做準備。

The analysis did not look at individual patient data and did not answer why some parts of the country have been hit harder than others. It also remains unclear whether particulate matter pollution plays any role in the spread of the coronavirus or whether long-term exposure directly leads to a greater risk of falling ill.

這項研究沒有分析單個病人的數(shù)據(jù)，也沒有回答為什么美國一些地區(qū)受到的打擊比其他地區(qū)更大的問題。目前還不清楚顆粒物污染是否與新冠病毒的傳播有關(guān)，也不清楚長期暴露于污染下是否會直接導(dǎo)致更大的患病風險。

Dr. John R. Balmes, a spokesman for the American Lung Association and a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco, said the findings were particularly important for hospitals in poor neighborhoods and communities of color, which tend to be exposed to higher levels of air pollution than affluent, white communities.

美國肺臟協(xié)會(American Lung Association)發(fā)言人、加州大學舊金山分校醫(yī)學教授約翰·R·巴爾姆斯(John R. Balmes)說，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)對貧困社區(qū)和有色人種社區(qū)的醫(yī)院尤為重要。這些社區(qū)往往比富裕的白人社區(qū)受到更高水平的空氣污染。

“We need to make sure that hospitals taking care of folks who are more vulnerable and with even greater air pollution exposure have the resources they need,” Dr. Balmes said.

巴爾姆斯博士說：“我們需要確保醫(yī)院能夠為那些弱勢的、暴露在空氣污染程度更高地區(qū)的人提供他們所需要的資源。”

As more is learned about the recurrence of Covid-19, the study also could have far-reaching implications for clean-air regulations, which the Trump administration has worked to roll back over the past three years on the grounds that they have been onerous to industry.

隨著對Covid-19復(fù)發(fā)的更多了解，這項研究也可能對空氣質(zhì)量監(jiān)管產(chǎn)生深遠影響，特朗普政府過去三年一直以清潔空氣監(jiān)管對工業(yè)造成沉重負擔為由，努力削弱這類監(jiān)管。

Multiple studies have found that exposure to fine particulate matter puts people at heightened risk for lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes and even premature death. In 2003, Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, the associate dean for research at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, found that SARS patients in the most polluted parts of China were twice as likely to die from the disease as those in places with low air pollution.

多項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，暴露在細小顆粒物下會增加人們罹患肺癌、心臟病、中風甚至早逝的風險。2003年，美國加州大學洛杉磯分校菲爾丁公共衛(wèi)生學院研究副院長張作風博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國污染最嚴重地區(qū)的SARS患者死于該病的可能性是空氣污染程度較低地區(qū)的兩倍。

In an interview, Dr. Zhang called the Harvard study “very much consistent” with his findings.

在一次采訪中，張作風博士稱哈佛的研究與他的發(fā)現(xiàn)“非常一致”。