The co-occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and record-breaking wildfire seasons has created a unique public health crisis. While both individually stress the respiratory system, emerging evidence suggests they act as a "double whammy," where wildfire smoke significantly exacerbates COVID-19 transmission, severity, and mortality. In 2020, extreme wildfire events in the Western United States were linked to an estimated 19,700 additional COVID-19 cases and 750 deaths.
1. Introduction
) from wildfire smoke has been shown to upregulate the expression of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the primary receptor that Wildfires, COVID a Double Whammy to Lung Health