Muhammad, M. and Loong, Shih Keng and Khor, C. S. and Mohd-Azami, Siti Nurul Izzah and Kafle, A. and Useh, U. and Bello, B. and AbuBakar, Sazaly (2024) Sunlight exposure might account for the relatively low COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in tropical countries. Tropical Biomedicine, 41 (1). pp. 78-83. ISSN 2521-9855, DOI https://doi.org/10.47665/tb.41.1.010.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The present study aimed at exploring whether sunlight exposure might account for the relative difference in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality between tropical and non -tropical countries. A retrospective observational study was designed and data from the World Health Organization weekly COVID-19 epidemiological update was compiled. We examined the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population, as well as the total number of COVID-19-related mortalities per 100 000 population. Solar variables data were obtained from the Global Solar Atlas website (https://globalsolaratlas.info/). These data were analyzed to determine the association of sunlight exposure to COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in tropical and non -tropical countries. Results revealed a statistically significant decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100 000 population ( P <0.001), as well as the number of COVID-19-related mortalities per 100 000 population ( P <0.001) between tropical and non -tropical countries. Analyses of sunlight exposure data found that specific photovoltaic power output, global horizontal irradiation, diffuse horizontal irradiation and global tilted irradiation at optimum angle were significantly inversely correlated to COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. This suggests that stronger sunlight exposure potentially leads to lower COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. Findings from this study suggest that the relatively low COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality in tropical countries were possibly due to better sunlight exposure that translates into adequate vitamin D status.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MO002-2021) |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | COVID-19; infectious disease; sunlight; tropical; vitamin D |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) |
| Divisions: | Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Office > Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Oct 2024 01:06 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Oct 2024 01:06 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/45523 |
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