Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1183706
This article is part of the Research Topic Impacts of Air Pollution and Meteorological Factors on Infectious Diseases View all articles

Associations between meteorological factors and COVID-19: a global scoping review

Provisionally accepted
Jesse Limaheluw Jesse Limaheluw 1,2*Sophia Dollmann Sophia Dollmann 1,2Sofia Folpmers Sofia Folpmers 2Lola B. Beut Lola B. Beut 2Lucie Vermeulen Lucie Vermeulen 1Ana Maria de Roda Husman Ana Maria de Roda Husman 1,2
  • 1 National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Netherlands), Bilthoven, Netherlands
  • 2 Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Many respiratory viruses and their associated diseases are sensitive to meteorological factors. For SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, evidence on this sensitivity is inconsistent. Understanding the influence of meteorological factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 epidemiology can help to improve pandemic preparedness. Objectives: This review aimed to examine the recent evidence about the relation between meteorological factors and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a global scoping review of peer-reviewed studies published from January 2020 up to January 2023 about the associations between temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Results: From 9,156 initial records, we included 474 relevant studies. Experimental studies on SARS-CoV-2 provided consistent evidence that higher temperatures and solar radiation negatively affect virus viability. Studies on COVID-19 (epidemiology) were mostly observational and provide less consistent evidence. Several studies considered interactions between meteorological factors or other variables such as demographics or air pollution. None of the publications included all determinants holistically. Discussion: The association between short-term meteorological factors and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 dynamics is complex. Interactions between environmental and social components need further consideration. A more integrated research approach can provide valuable insights to predict the dynamics of respiratory viruses with pandemic potential.

    Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, Respiratory diseases, airborne viruses, climate, weather, Pandemic preparedness

    Received: 10 Mar 2023; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Limaheluw, Dollmann, Folpmers, Beut, Vermeulen and de Roda Husman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jesse Limaheluw, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Netherlands), Bilthoven, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.