Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods
Abstract COVID-19 had a devastating impact on humanity. We investigated how residential air pollution (ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5)) and meteorological factors (temperature (Temp), precipitation (Prec)) are associated with COVID-19 incidence in Baden-Württember...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13521-2 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849343045811568640 |
|---|---|
| author | Leona Hoffmann Lorenza Gilardi Tobias Antoni Maxana Baltruweit Michael Bittner Susanne Breitner Simon Dally Thilo Erbertseder Sabine Hawighorst-Knapstein Marie-Therese Schmitz Rochelle Schneider Sabine Wüst Jörn Rittweger |
| author_facet | Leona Hoffmann Lorenza Gilardi Tobias Antoni Maxana Baltruweit Michael Bittner Susanne Breitner Simon Dally Thilo Erbertseder Sabine Hawighorst-Knapstein Marie-Therese Schmitz Rochelle Schneider Sabine Wüst Jörn Rittweger |
| author_sort | Leona Hoffmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract COVID-19 had a devastating impact on humanity. We investigated how residential air pollution (ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5)) and meteorological factors (temperature (Temp), precipitation (Prec)) are associated with COVID-19 incidence in Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany. We utilized data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Copernicus Climate Change Service to model environmental exposure from 2020 to 2022 in postal code areas in BW. Health insurance data on SARS-CoV-2 infections were provided from the health insurance AOK BW on a quarterly level covering approximately 12 million person-years. We examined the spatiotemporal variability with a generalized additive model including various stressors, demographic factors, and area-wide data, offering a comprehensive analysis of the environmental stressor- COVI-10 incidence associations. In 2022, during the prevalence of the Omicron variant, the number of COVID-19 cases tripled compared to 2020. During the pre-Omicron period, COVID-19 incidence showed a positive association with PM2.5 (relative risk [RR] 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] (2.31, 2.52)), a negative association with Temp (RR 0.39 (0.32, 0.48)), and no clear or slight associations with O3, Prec, and NO2. During the Omicron period, there were either no clear or slight negative associations with Temp (RR 0.92 (0.74, 1.30)), PM2·5 (RR 0.70 (0.64, 0.79)), NO2, and Prec and a negative association with O3 (RR 0.46 (0.40, 0.53)). The analysis found clear links between environmental stressors and COVID-19 incidence, which strongly differed between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods. Consideration of environmental stressor concentration could be relevant in the management of the pandemic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0466eeb7ec8b424b8796c45e6936c6e7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-0466eeb7ec8b424b8796c45e6936c6e72025-08-20T03:43:11ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-13521-2Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periodsLeona Hoffmann0Lorenza Gilardi1Tobias Antoni2Maxana Baltruweit3Michael Bittner4Susanne Breitner5Simon Dally6Thilo Erbertseder7Sabine Hawighorst-Knapstein8Marie-Therese Schmitz9Rochelle Schneider10Sabine Wüst11Jörn Rittweger12Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (DLR)German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center (DLR)Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Baden-Württemberg (AOK-BW)Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Baden-Württemberg (AOK-BW)German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center (DLR)Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Centre for Environmental HealthAllgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Baden-Württemberg (AOK-BW)German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center (DLR)Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Baden-Württemberg (AOK-BW)Institute of Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology (IMBIE), University Hospital BonnΦ-Lab, European Space Agency (ESA)German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center (DLR)Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (DLR)Abstract COVID-19 had a devastating impact on humanity. We investigated how residential air pollution (ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5)) and meteorological factors (temperature (Temp), precipitation (Prec)) are associated with COVID-19 incidence in Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany. We utilized data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Copernicus Climate Change Service to model environmental exposure from 2020 to 2022 in postal code areas in BW. Health insurance data on SARS-CoV-2 infections were provided from the health insurance AOK BW on a quarterly level covering approximately 12 million person-years. We examined the spatiotemporal variability with a generalized additive model including various stressors, demographic factors, and area-wide data, offering a comprehensive analysis of the environmental stressor- COVI-10 incidence associations. In 2022, during the prevalence of the Omicron variant, the number of COVID-19 cases tripled compared to 2020. During the pre-Omicron period, COVID-19 incidence showed a positive association with PM2.5 (relative risk [RR] 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] (2.31, 2.52)), a negative association with Temp (RR 0.39 (0.32, 0.48)), and no clear or slight associations with O3, Prec, and NO2. During the Omicron period, there were either no clear or slight negative associations with Temp (RR 0.92 (0.74, 1.30)), PM2·5 (RR 0.70 (0.64, 0.79)), NO2, and Prec and a negative association with O3 (RR 0.46 (0.40, 0.53)). The analysis found clear links between environmental stressors and COVID-19 incidence, which strongly differed between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods. Consideration of environmental stressor concentration could be relevant in the management of the pandemic.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13521-2 |
| spellingShingle | Leona Hoffmann Lorenza Gilardi Tobias Antoni Maxana Baltruweit Michael Bittner Susanne Breitner Simon Dally Thilo Erbertseder Sabine Hawighorst-Knapstein Marie-Therese Schmitz Rochelle Schneider Sabine Wüst Jörn Rittweger Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods Scientific Reports |
| title | Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods |
| title_full | Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods |
| title_fullStr | Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods |
| title_short | Modulation of COVID-19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre-Omicron and Omicron periods |
| title_sort | modulation of covid 19 incidence by environmental stressors is variant between pre omicron and omicron periods |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13521-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leonahoffmann modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT lorenzagilardi modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT tobiasantoni modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT maxanabaltruweit modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT michaelbittner modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT susannebreitner modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT simondally modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT thiloerbertseder modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT sabinehawighorstknapstein modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT mariethereseschmitz modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT rochelleschneider modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT sabinewust modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods AT jornrittweger modulationofcovid19incidencebyenvironmentalstressorsisvariantbetweenpreomicronandomicronperiods |