BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Exposure to air pollution increases the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization, according to a new study.
Published this month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the peer-reviewed study found that exposure to common air pollutants increased the risk of hospitalization by up to 30 per cent for fully-vaccinated patients.
"Among vaccinated people, the detrimental effect of air pollution exposure is a little smaller, compared to people who were not vaccinated," co-author Zhanghua Chen, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the University of Southern California, explained in a news release. "But that difference is not statistically significant."
The study analyzed data from more than 50,000 COVID-19 patients in Southern California. Estimated air pollution exposure was calculated for every residential address using publicly-available data on fine particle (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) levels in the one month and year prior to each patients' diagnosis.
“We investigated both long-term and short-term air pollution exposure, which may influence COVID-19 severity through different mechanisms,” Chen said.
Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and lung disease, both of which can lead to more severe COVID-19 symptoms, the researchers noted, while short-term air pollution exposure may intensify lung inflammation, and even affect patients' immune responses. Since COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, it was no surprise to find that air quality impacted patient outcomes.
For the unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide and fine particles increased the risk of hospitalization by 13 to 14 per cent, while long-term exposure increased the risk by 22 to 24 per cent. For the partially and fully-vaccinated, the risks were slightly lower, but not statistically significant, according to the study. Ozone levels did not impact hospitalization rates.
The study was also able to further establish that COVID-19 vaccination leads to fewer hospitalizations.
"Fully vaccinated people had almost 90 per cent reduced risk of COVID hospitalization, and even partially vaccinated people had about 50 per cent less risk," Chen said.
"These findings are important because they show that, while COVID-19 vaccines are successful at reducing the risk of hospitalization, people who are vaccinated and exposed to polluted air are still at increased risk for worse outcomes than vaccinated people not exposed to air pollution," added co-author Anny Xiang, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente, an American healthcare consortium, in the news release.
Since the findings suggest improving air quality could reduce severe cases of COVID-19, the researchers are now studying the impacts of indoor air purifiers on patients.
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.