New Delhi: The impact of the Covid-19 vaccine has been found to be less in people affected by high levels of air pollution before the corona virus epidemic, a new research claimed.
In particular, people exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black carbon showed a 10 per cent decline in IgM and IgG antibody response before infection, the researchers said.
The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, provide further evidence about the adverse effects of air pollution on the immune system.
Manolis Kogevinas of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) said air pollution has adverse health effects, including lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases and diabetes.
Kogevinas said, “The effects of air pollutants on the immune system have been observed. So in this study, we wanted to determine whether air pollution also affects the antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines.”
The team analysed data from 927 participants aged between 40 and 65. These participants answered a questionnaire and gave blood samples in the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021. All of them had taken one or two doses of the Spanish Covid-19 vaccines astraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna.
The research team assessed IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies in these people. Prior to the pandemic, participants were estimated to be exposed to PM2.5, black carbon, NO2 and ozone (O3), depending on the places they lived.
The results showed that in individuals who were not infected with the coronavirus, exposure to PM2.5, NO2 and black carbon before the pandemic had reduced vaccine antibodies by 5 to 10 per cent.