Maternal Outcomes
The authors of this meta-analysis examine endocrine disorders in pregnant women with COVID-19 and without and its impact on maternal outcomes. A total of 141 articles met the research criteria and were included in the meta-analyses. Key findings from the meta-analyses indicate that obesity and hyperglycemia in pregnancy (HIP) were risk factors for adverse maternal outcomes. Specifically, obesity heightened the risk for severe disease but HIP was not a significant factor when adjusted for obesity. Risk of ICU admission was two times higher in obese women. Seven studies in the meta-analyses provided data on 10,178 pregnant women with COVID-19. Approximately 503 women needed ICU treatment and 65 women experienced mortality with majority of cases in the third trimester. Overall, obesity was the most prevalent endocrine disorder followed by HIP and the presence of these conditions led to adverse maternal outcomes especially among women with COVID-19.
Environmental Pollution
This article examines the effect of environmental pollutants such as particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and Ozone (O3) on the daily incidence rate and deaths due to COVID-19 in London. The data were analyzed using R Core Team and Poisson regression analyses was performed to predict the number of cases and deaths from the pollutant factors. The results showed that the number of cases increased significantly with PM2.5 levels ((ρ = 0.341, p < 0.001). Similarly, O3 levels had a significant positive association with the number of cases (ρ = 0.222, p < 0.001). A positive but insignificant association was seen with CO levels and number of cases (ρ = 0.120, p = 0.057). The number of deaths related to COVID-19 significantly increased with the increase in levels of PM2.5 (ρ = 0.395, p < 0.001), CO (ρ = 0.125, p = 0.047) and O3 (ρ = 0.450, p < 0.001). The findings can be explained by the fact that chronic exposure to environmental pollution can lead to respiratory stress and when exposed to COVID-19, the infection can be more severe and in some cases may lead to mortality as a result.
Climate Change
This commentary focuses on the need to address various factors related to climate change. One major effect of climate change is that it may increase the likelihood of infectious disease outbreaks by affecting the survival, reproduction, and/or distribution of disease-causing agents. Furthermore, climate change can affect the geographic range as well as habitats of disease vectors and also increase inter-species contact that can result from various man-made activities such as deforestation and urbanization. The authors further state that disease-causing organisms are very much influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall, which are all influenced by climate change. Many countries have been dually affected by COVID-19 and natural disasters and this has disproportionately affected the health of those with a low socioeconomic status and vulnerable populations. The authors conclude by stating that world leaders need to tackle not only COVID-19 but also the climate crisis.
