Disparities in COVID-19 incidence and fatality rates at high-altitude

PeerJ

article

Bilal Ahmed Abbasi¹  Neha Chanana¹  Tsering Palmo¹  Qadar Pasha¹ 

[1] CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Genomics and Molecular Medicine;Institute of Hypoxia Research

关键词: COVID-19;    High-altitude;    Risk;    Protection;    Cofactors;    Comorbidities;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14473

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background2,500 masl) present an extreme environment that impacts the survival of permanent residents, possibly including SARS-CoV-2. Conflicting hypotheses have been presented for COVID-19 incidence and fatality at HA.Objectives2,501 masl).MethodsGlobal COVID-19 data of March 2020-21, employed from official websites of the Indian Government, John Hopkins University, and Worldometer were clustered into 6 altitude categories. Clinical cofactors and comorbidities data were evaluated with COVID-19 incidence and fatality. Extensive comparisons and correlations using several statistical tools estimated the risk and protection.ResultsOf relevance, data analyses revealed four distinct responses, namely, partial risk, total risk, partial protection, and total protection from COVID-19 at high-altitude indicating a mixed baggage and complexity of the infection. Surprisingly, it included the countries within the same geographic region. Moreover, body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes correlated significantly with COVID-19 incidence and fatality rate (P ≤ 0.05).ConclusionsVaried patterns of protection and risk against COVID-19 incidence and fatality were observed among the high-altitude populations. It is though premature to generalize COVID-19 effects on any particular demography without further extensive studies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY