The findings add a concerning new element to the ways wildfire smoke can wreak havoc on health.
“About two weeks after we had these smoke exposure events, we saw an uptick in the Covid-19 incidents, even in a low-density pollution area, that were beyond what you would have predicted normally. And then as the smoke dissipated, the peak went back down,” said Michael Kleinman, a co-director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine, who co-wrote the Orange County study. “This happened three times with three different smoke exposures.
Henderson added that wildfire smoke “gums up the upper respiratory tract epithelium” — a thin layer of cells that’s covered in phlegm and mucus, the body’s first line of defense to keep viruses out of the body. Inhaling smoke also triggers an immune response in the lungs, which may weaken the immune system’s ability to fight the coronavirus, making it easier for an infection to take hold.
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