Wildfire smoke may have contributed to Western US COVID case counts

There appears to be a link between two disasters right now: COVID-19 and wildfire smoke.

A study recently published in the journal “Science Advances” finds that the damage done to your lungs and immune system by smoke can make you more susceptible to COVID-19, and can worsen your symptoms if you get it.

Don’t wait for skies to turn hazy to prepare for wildfire smoke

Graeme Carvlin with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency previously told KIRO Radio that this was the running hypothesis among scientists.

“Even months later if you have a high exposure, you can have lingering health effects. And there’s a pretty clear connection between higher levels of pollution and an increased chance to catch COVID-19 and have worse symptoms,” he said.

The study looked at COVID hospitalizations and deaths in counties across the Western United States — in Washington, Oregon, and California — that were affected by wildfires and smoke last year.

“Basically you have a respiratory irritant, those particles, and a respiratory disease. So it makes a lot of sense that there would be a positive connection there,” Carvlin said.

Can COVID masks protect against wildfire smoke?

He also previously told KIRO Radio that smoke can worsen asthma and other respiratory conditions.

“If you have a respiratory condition, you have asthma, for example, that will be exacerbated. It really does come down to an increased chance of  getting sick, or even dying,” he said.