That Smoking is a risk factor for respiratory disease is obvious. However, it was previously unknown to what extent smoking plays a role, especially for young people, in relation to Covid-19. This is now the result of a study by University of California San Francisco (UCSF) examined.
In the course of the pandemic so far, the elderly and People with previous burdens as at risk of developing Covid-19. In the USA in particular, many young people have recently become infected, sometimes with a severe or even fatal outcome.
Data of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed an increase in young patients (18-29 years) in the hospital of 299 percent between April 18 and June 27, 2020. The proportion of patients over 65 increased significantly less, namely 139 percent. How can these high numbers of teenagers be explained? A team of researchers has found a possible answer.
Study examines risk factors among adolescents
The current study was published in Journal of Adolescent Health publishes and examines data from approximately 8,400 men and women ages 18-25. The researchers concluded that the overall medical risk of developing Covid-19 was 33 percent for men and 30 percent for women in that age group.
They determined this using the risk factors identified by the CDC: Heart disease, Diabetes, Asthma, Immune diseases (such as lupus, gout, rheumatoid arthritis), liver diseases, obesity and smoking. The researchers also included E-cigarettesthat also adversely affect the respiratory system and immune system. E-cigarettes are also suspected of contributing to the spread of the virus because the vapor emitted provides a carrier liquid.
1 in 3 adolescents in the US are prone to severe disease
Adolescents are typically at low risk of chronic illness, says study author PhD Sally Adams. Therefore, they were often not perceived as endangered in the corona pandemic. However, smoking can significantly affect the likelihood that Covid-19 will progress faster, the person concerned has to go to the intensive care unit or premature death occurs.
19.8 percent of a total of around 8,400 respondents stated that they had smoked cigarettes, cigar products or e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. The proportion of smokers is therefore greater than that of the people to whom the other risk factors apply (16.3 percent).
It should be noted here that the data are from the United States.
Non-smokers are at lower risk
The study identifies smoking as the greatest risk factor among adolescents, at least in the United States. “The statistical risk for a serious illness is halved if the smoking adolescents are removed from the sample,” says study author Dr. Charles Irwin Jr. from UC San Francisco. And further: “Efforts to curb youth cigarette and tobacco use, would likely reduce susceptibility to serious diseases. “
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