Smokers could be at ‘higher risk’ of contracting COVID-19

Evidence and "advisory" from the World Health Organisation suggests that “smokers are at higher risk of getting the virus and ... of getting worse complications than non-smokers,” according to UNSW School of Public Health Professor Frederic Sitas. Concern has been raised over whether smokers are more susceptible to COVID-19 as the virus tends to target the lungs, which would be somewhat debilitated by regular or long-term smoking. Mr Sitas told Sky News smokers are more prone to place their fingers near their mouths more regularly which was “a vehicle for the virus to enter”. He said “evidence coming from China, Wuhan, Iran and Italy that infection ratios are higher in males than females, and a lot of males smoke in those countries, suggests that smoking has a role to play in this epidemic “. “From what it seems we are getting more men than women being affected so that sits with the smoking patterns in each of those countries,” he said. “The evidence keeps suggesting this is what is happening and we have got a lot of evidence from other viruses that affects the lungs that this is the sort of pattern that happens once you smoke and you are introduced to a virus. “The healthier your lings are, if you pick up the virus, the better your outcomes will be.”

from World | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/2JwsVJc