‘Compelling evidence’ links smoking to increased Covid-19 diagnosis risk

Current smokers were also more likely to have a higher symptom burden than non-smokers

According to a study, public health officials should include smoking cessation programs in the fight against Covid-19.

The recommendation came after researchers found that people who smoke are more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 symptoms than non-smokers.

Current smokers also had higher levels of symptoms than non-smokers, said investigators at King's College London (KCL) in the United Kingdom (UK).

Steve et al. Written in Thorax ("Current smoking and Covid-19 risk: results of an app for population symptoms in over 2.4 million people", doi: 10.1136 / thoraxjnl-2020-216422) that smokers are 29 percent more likely to report More than five symptoms related to Covid-19 and a 50 percent higher chance of reporting more than 10 symptoms, including loss of smell, skipping meals, diarrhea, fatigue, confusion, or muscle pain.

A greater number of symptoms suggested a more severe Covid-19, they added.

Current smokers who tested positive for the deadly virus were also more than twice as likely to be in the hospital as non-smokers.

The researchers concluded that smoking cessation programs are an integral part of government-led anti-Covid-19 strategies.

They also indicated that reducing smoking rates in the general population would also reduce the burden on health systems from other smoking-related illnesses that require hospitalization.

"Evidence that current smoking appears to increase the burden of Covid-19 on the individual, and thus the health system, is a strong argument for governments to accelerate rather than disrupt action to implement tobacco control plans," they wrote in the Online edition of the journal.

“Our results provide convincing evidence of an association between current smoking and individual risk of Covid-19, including self-reported symptom burden and the risk of hospitalization. Smoking cessation should be mainstreamed in public health campaigns and other efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. "

The study used data collected between March and April 2020 by the UK Covid-19 Symptom Studies app.

The lead researcher Dr. Claire Steves, Consultant Doctor and Reader at the School of Life Course Sciences, KCL, said, “As the rate of Covid-19 continues to rise and the national health service increases toward capacity, it is important to do all we can to reduce it See the effects and find ways to reduce hospital admissions. "