COVID-19: Lower incidence at high altitudes?

New Rochelle, NY, August 3, 2020–Despite recent reports of lower COVID-19 incidence among high-altitude populations, current data is insufficient to conclude that high altitude is protective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as reported in the peer-reviewed journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology. Click here to read the article.

“The reported lower incidence of COVID-19 among high-altitude residents is quite intriguing, but epidemiological observations presented so far from high-altitude regions are preliminary,” state Matiram Pun, MBBS, MSc, University of Calgary, Erik Swenson, MD, University of Washington and Editor-in-Chief of High Altitude Medicine & Biology, and coauthors

The authors also conclude that there is currently little supporting evidence for any protective benefit of genetic or nongenomic adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia.

“We should avoid reaching the conclusion that any community has an innate protection from COVID-19 in the absence of robust evidence,” state the authors

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High Altitude Medicine & Biology, is the Official Journal of the International Society for Mountain Medicine, is published quarterly online. It is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated exclusively to the latest advances in high altitude life sciences. The Journal presents findings on the effects of chronic hypoxia on lung and heart disease, pulmonary and cerebral edema, hypertension, dehydration, infertility, appetite and weight loss, and other diseases. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the High Altitude Medicine & Biology website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research A complete list of the firm’s 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.