{"id":2458539,"date":"2020-05-17T21:20:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T03:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/study-shows-fewer-covid-19-cases-in-high-altitude-regions\/"},"modified":"2020-05-17T21:20:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T03:20:01","slug":"study-shows-fewer-covid-19-cases-in-high-altitude-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/study-shows-fewer-covid-19-cases-in-high-altitude-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"Study shows fewer COVID-19 cases in high-altitude regions"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"681\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-681x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820-1362x2048.jpg 1362w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/COVIDElevation-VDN-051820.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>In a study published on April 22, 2020, Dr. Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja and his colleagues suggest people who grow up at high altitude may be less susceptible to the novel coronavirus.<\/strong><br \/><em>Courtesy of Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">People who grew up at high elevations might be less susceptible to the novel coronavirus, according to a recent study of the virus\u2019 impact in high-altitude communities like Summit County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The study, which was published by the \u201cRespiratory Physiology and Neurobiology\u201d journal, compared case data for the virus among communities in Bolivia, Tibet and Ecuador and found that cities and towns in higher elevations have reported fewer COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to Bolivia\u2019s Ministry of Health website, La Paz, Bolivia, has reported 328 cases of the virus and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, has reported 2,300 cases as of Friday. La Paz sits 11,943 feet above sea level with a population of 2.7 million people. Santa Cruz is 1,365 feet above sea level with a population of 1.6 million people. For some context, Breckenridge is 9,600 feet above sea level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is data that strongly suggests that high altitude is protective,\u201d said Dr. Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja, director of the High Altitude Pulmonary and Pathology Institute in La Paz and one of the researchers on the study.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When the virus attacks a person\u2019s lungs it causes hypoxia, a term used for oxygen deficiency in the body. Zubieta-Calleja said it\u2019s similar to taking a person from sea level and putting them at the peak of Mount Everest. People who live at high altitude develop a tolerance to hypoxia and this may help them fight the virus, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">To take the theory even further, Zubieta-Calleja suggests a potential treatment for the virus could be to increase a person\u2019s red blood cell count at the early stages of the disease to simulate the biology of people who already live at high altitude.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou have to increase the red blood cells for people in order to survive the acute phase, the critical phase of COVID,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Zubieta-Calleja said a doctor would have to inject the hormone erythropoietin into a person\u2019s blood, which would stimulate the production of red blood cells.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat way your red blood cells increase and when things get more severe, then you have a reserve of red blood cells,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, some doctors are skeptical of studies like this one, because there is still so much researchers don\u2019t know about the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dr. Erik Swenson, a pulmonologist from the University of Washington, said the study shouldn\u2019t change how people live their lives in the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt could be true, but they don\u2019t have the information to really tease out whether this is hypoxia that is living at these altitudes or is it a whole host of other factors that are relevant to those populations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Swenson suggested the ability to widely test COVID-19 patients in these areas varies and other factors such as low pollution, healthier lifestyles and the dispersion of molecules at high altitude might contribute to the low number of cases in high-altitude areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of Zubieta-Calleja\u2019s previous articles suggests that ultraviolet light can act as a natural disinfectant, which might be a possible reason for why fewer people have the virus in high-altitude areas, as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Researchers also aren\u2019t sure how long a person would have to live at high altitude in order to develop the tolerance to hypoxia required to prevent COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Summit County physician Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos said people living at high altitude shouldn\u2019t use this information as a reason to stop following protocols that prevent the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBecause of all the other factors involved in this infection, we really can\u2019t change anything that we\u2019re doing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe still have to be just as cautious about the contagious virus (and) the presence of a person who could spread the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ebert-Santos also said that people come from all over in Summit County and tolerance to hypoxia varies from person to person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEven though we could say these are potential mitigating factors of COVID infection, we cannot promise any individual that they have more protection or they would have a less severe course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/regional\/study-shows-fewer-covid-19-cases-in-high-altitude-regions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a study published on April 22, 2020, Dr. Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja and his colleagues suggest people who grow up at high altitude may be less susceptible to the novel coronavirus.Courtesy of Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja People who grew up at high elevations might be less susceptible to the novel coronavirus, according to a recent study of the 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