Skip to main content
Corona Virus im Inneren des Körpers - Wuhan Virus
peterschreiber.media - stock.adobe.com

CovGenAir

The aim of COVGENAIR is to assess the role of chronic diseases, environmental and genetic variation and their interplay in the infection with SARS-CoV-2 in three comprehensively phenotyped longitudinal cohort studies from Germany covering different regions and age groups.

The aim of COVGENAIR is to assess the role of chronic diseases, environmental and genetic variation and their interplay in the infection with SARS-CoV-2 in three comprehensively phenotyped longitudinal cohort studies from Germany covering different regions and age groups.

Overview

The recently discovered virus “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2) is the pathogenic agent of COVID-19. Several risk factors were reported to contribute to COVID-19 severity, such as age, sex, socio-economic status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. It is assumed that air pollution also contributes to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and that it influences the course of the infection. Moreover, genetic risk variants potentially represent important effect modifiers of the association of air pollution with cardio-metabolic and respiratory health and might provide insights into the underlying mechanisms.

  1. To determine the prevalence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms in our cohorts within different age and risk groups.

  2. To disentangle the association between environmental exposures and a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

  3. To identify susceptible subgroups in the population who might be particularly vulnerable for an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

  4. To investigate the long-term health effects of an infection with SARS-CoV-2 in our study population.

Participants from three longitudinal population-based cohort studies from Germany aging 20-95 years:

  • SALIA (Study on the influence of air pollution, lung function, inflammation and aging)

  • KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region) and

  • the birth-corhorts
    GINIplus (German Infant Study on the influence of Nutrition Intervention PLUS environmental and genetic influences on allergy development) and
    LISA (Influence of life-style factors on the development of the immune system and allergies in East and West Germany)

Data on long-term health development and environmental exposure as well as genome-wide data are already available for all study participants. They are invited for a comprehensive physical re-examination to determine the seroprevalence status and long-term health consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infections. They also participate in health monitoring of COVID-19 associated symptoms via a weekly questionnaire over a period up to 24 weeks.

Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), project number 458527737 (funding period: 2021-2024)

 

  • Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, Research Group “Environmental risks”: Dr. Alexandra Schneider, Dr. Ute Kraus, Sarah Wagner

  • Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, Research Group “Allergic Disease Epidemiology“: Dr. Marie Standl, Sarah Wagner

  • IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Department of Epidemiology: Dr. Tamara Schikowski

  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, IBE-Chair of Epidemiology: Prof. Dr. Annette Peters

The recently discovered virus “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2) is the pathogenic agent of COVID-19. Several risk factors were reported to contribute to COVID-19 severity, such as age, sex, socio-economic status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. It is assumed that air pollution also contributes to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and that it influences the course of the infection. Moreover, genetic risk variants potentially represent important effect modifiers of the association of air pollution with cardio-metabolic and respiratory health and might provide insights into the underlying mechanisms.

  1. To determine the prevalence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms in our cohorts within different age and risk groups.

  2. To disentangle the association between environmental exposures and a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

  3. To identify susceptible subgroups in the population who might be particularly vulnerable for an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

  4. To investigate the long-term health effects of an infection with SARS-CoV-2 in our study population.

Participants from three longitudinal population-based cohort studies from Germany aging 20-95 years:

  • SALIA (Study on the influence of air pollution, lung function, inflammation and aging)

  • KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region) and

  • the birth-corhorts
    GINIplus (German Infant Study on the influence of Nutrition Intervention PLUS environmental and genetic influences on allergy development) and
    LISA (Influence of life-style factors on the development of the immune system and allergies in East and West Germany)

Data on long-term health development and environmental exposure as well as genome-wide data are already available for all study participants. They are invited for a comprehensive physical re-examination to determine the seroprevalence status and long-term health consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infections. They also participate in health monitoring of COVID-19 associated symptoms via a weekly questionnaire over a period up to 24 weeks.

Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), project number 458527737 (funding period: 2021-2024)

 

  • Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, Research Group “Environmental risks”: Dr. Alexandra Schneider, Dr. Ute Kraus, Sarah Wagner

  • Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Epidemiology, Research Group “Allergic Disease Epidemiology“: Dr. Marie Standl, Sarah Wagner

  • IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Department of Epidemiology: Dr. Tamara Schikowski

  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, IBE-Chair of Epidemiology: Prof. Dr. Annette Peters

Contact PI

Dr. Alexandra Schneider

Deputy Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Head of Research Group 'Environmental Risks', Senior Scientist

56/247

Contact PI

Dr. Marie Standl

Head of Research Group 'Allergic Disease Epidemiology', Head (ad interim) of Research Group 'Lung Epidemiology', Statistician

56/252