Argument for a 5G – COVID-19 Epidemic Connection by Martin Pall, PhD

Role of 5G in the Coronavirus Epidemic in Wuhan China

– by Martin Pall, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Washington State University

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China, was chosen to be China’s first 5G “smart city” and the location of China’s first smart 5G highway. Wuhan is also the center of the horrendous coronavirus epidemic. The possible linkage between these two events was first discussed in an Oct. 31, 2019 article entitled: “Wuhan was the province where 5G was rolled out, now the center of deadly virus” https://5g-emf.com/wuhan-was-the-province-where-5g-was-rolled-out-now-the-center-of-deadly-virus/

The question that is being raised here is not whether 5G is responsible for the virus, but rather whether 5G radiation, acting via VGCC activation may be exacerbating the viral replication or the spread or lethality of the disease.  Let’s backtrack and look at the recent history of 5G in Wuhan in order to get some perspective on those questions.  An Asia Times article, dated Feb. 12, 2019 (https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/02/article/china-to-launch-first-5g-smart-highway) stated that there were 31 different 5G base stations (that is antennae) in Wuhan at the end of 2018. There were plans developed later such that approximately 10,000 5G antennae would be in place at the end of 2019, with most of those being on 5G LED smart street lamps.  The first such smart street lamp was put in place on May 14, 2019 (www.china.org.cn/china/2019-05/14/content_74783676.htm), but large numbers only started being put in place in October, 2019, such that there was a furious pace of such placement in the last 2 ½ months of 2019.  These findings show that the rapid pace of the coronavirus epidemic developed at least roughly as the number of 5G antennae became extraordinarily high.  So we have this finding that China’s 1st 5G smart city and smart highway is the epicenter of this epidemic and this finding that the epidemic only became rapidly more severe as the numbers of 5G antennae skyrocketed.

Are these findings coincidental or does 5G have some causal role in exacerbating the coronavirus epidemic?  In order to answer that question, we need to determine whether the downstream effects of VGCC activation exacerbate the viral replication, the effects of viral infection, especially those that have roles in the spread of the virus and also the mechanism by which this coronavirus causes death.

Accordingly, the replication of the viral RNA is stimulated by oxidative stress:

J Mol Biol. 2008 Nov 28;383(5):1081-96.   Variable oligomerization modes in coronavirus non-structural protein 9.  Ponnusamy R, Moll R, Weimar T, Mesters JR, Hilgenfeld R.

Other aspects of viral replication including those involved in the spread of the virus are stimulated by increased intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i, oxidative stress, NF-kappaB elevation, inflammation and apoptosis, each of which are increased following EMF exposure.  The first citation below shows an important role of VGCC activation in stimulating coronavirus infection.

Virology. 2020 Jan 2;539:38-48. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) modulates calcium influx to favor viral replication.  Bai D, et al.

J Virol. 2011 May;85(9):4234-45. Distinct severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-induced acute lung injury pathways in two different nonhuman primate species. Smits SL, et al.

Cell Calcium. 2018 Nov;75:30-41.  NAADP-dependent Ca2+ signaling regulates Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus pseudovirus translocation through the endolysosomal system.  Gunaratne GS, et al.

J Virol. 2011 May;85(9):4234-45. Distinct severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-induced acute lung injury pathways in two different nonhuman primate species. Smits SL, et al.

Proteome Sci. 2011 Mar 8;9:11. Proteomic analysis of chicken embryonic trachea and kidney tissues after infection in ovo by avian infectious bronchitis coronavirus.  Cao Z, et al.

Res Vet Sci. 2015 Jun;100:12-7.  Serum biomarkers of oxidative stress in cats with feline infectious peritonitis.  Tecles F, et al.

J Infect Dis. 2008 Mar 15;197(6):812-6.  Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency enhances human coronavirus infection.  Wu YH et al.

J Virol. 1998 Jun;72(6):4918-24.  Transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus induces programmed cell death in infected cells through a caspase-dependent pathway.  Eleouet JF, et al.

The predominant cause of death from this coronavirus is pneumonia.  Pneumonia is greatly exacerbated by each of those five downstream effects of VGCC activation, excessive intracellular calcium, oxidative stress, NF-kappaB elevation, inflammation and apoptosis. The first of the citations listed below shows that calcium channel blockers, the same type of drugs that block EMF effects, are useful in the treatment of pneumonia.  This predicts that EMFs, acting via VGCC activation, will produce increasingly severe pneumonia and therefore 5G radiation as well as other types of EMFs may well increase pneumonia deaths.

Zheng et al.  2016  Preadmission Use of Calcium Channel Blockers and Outcomes After Hospitalization With Pneumonia: A Retrospective Propensity-Matched Cohort Study.  Am J Ther. 2017 Jan/Feb;24(1):e30-e38.

Fang et al.  2017  Pneumolysin-Dependent Calpain Activation and Interleukin-1? Secretion in Macrophages Infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae.  Infect Immun. 2017 Aug 18;85(9). pii: e00201-17.

Fettel et al.  2019  Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) induces potent anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo by S1P receptor 4-mediated suppression of 5-lipoxygenase activity.  FASEB J. 2019 Feb;33(2):1711-1726.

Liu and Shi.  2019  Calcium-activated chloride channel regulator 1 (CLCA1): More than a regulator of chloride transport and mucus production.  World Allergy Organ J. 2019 Nov 29;12(11):100077.

Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Nov;97(45):e13087.  N-acetylcysteine improves oxidative stress and inflammatory response in patients with community acquired pneumonia: A randomized controlled trial. Zhang Q, et al.

Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 18;8(1):15393.  Surfactant protein D attenuates acute lung and kidney injuries in pneumonia-induced sepsis through modulating apoptosis, inflammation and NF-?B signaling. Du J, et al.

Curr Neurovasc Res. 2020 Jan 28.  MicroRNA (miR)-429 promotes inflammatory injury by targeting kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) in neonatal pneumonia.  Zhang L, et al.

Life Sci. 2019 Jul 1;228:189-197.  Long noncoding RNA SNHG16 targets miR-146a-5p/CCL5 to regulate LPS-induced WI-38 cell apoptosis and inflammation in acute pneumonia. Zhou Z, et al.

These all argue that 5G radiation is likely to greatly exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus and to greatly increase the lethality of the infections produced by it.  The good news is that it is likely that those of us that live in areas with no 5G radiation and who avoid other EMFs wherever possible will probably escape much of the impacts of this prospective global pandemic.  It is highly probable that one of the best things Wuhan can do to control the epidemic in the city is to turn off the 4G/5G system.