In the letter, the subcommittee asks Hahn to confirm until August 18 – in one week – whether the FDA wants to temporarily ban all e-cigarette markets.
Considering that the world still does not know much about the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 – and that the vaping trend just appeared – not much is known about how the two can affect or be associated with each other.
But some new studies have begun investigating possible compounds, specifically about how vapors may have a harder time fighting a coronavirus infection and possibly be more susceptible to the disease.
‘We thought we’d see some relationship’
Diagnosis with Covid-19 was five times more likely among young people who have ever used e-cigarettes, according to a new study cited in Krishnamoorthi’s letter.
The study, based on an online survey, also found that young people who have a history of using both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes were seven times more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19 compared to those who had never had one. of the products have been used.
“About half of the sample sheltered on the spot – because we asked for it – but that doesn’t mean they are not in the backyard with a friend who shares their vaping product,” Halpern-Felsher said, adding that this increased risk of being diagnosed with Covid-19 could be linked to exposure to the coronavirus by sharing products, touching your face more or possibly inhaling drops containing the virus through the aerosols of an e-cigarette. More research is needed.
“We do not know. These are hypotheses,” Halpern-Felsher said. “I actually think it’s all of the above.”
The study included data on 4,351 young people aged 13 to 24 in the United States who completed an online survey in May.
The survey asked her questions about using e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, along with Covid-19-related symptoms, to test and diagnose with the disease.
“We’ve seen adults who have asthma guns. We’ve seen seizures. We’ve seen bronchitis, pneumonia, hospitalizations, lung collapse and now we see Covid,” Halpern-Felsher said of the results of the study.
The study comes with some limitations, including that it was based on self-reports of anonymous responses to online surveys – which can be vulnerable to benefits if respondents do not provide honest responses.
Overall, Halpern-Felsher said there is a message for young people and health care providers in the survey findings.
“This is a real call for adolescents to stop using e-cigarettes – to stop using inhaled product – to stop putting things in their lungs that hurt their lungs,” he said. se. “There’s a message for health care providers and there’s a message for parents: talk to your teens.”
“If you do a study like this, you’re trying to find a signal. Is there a link between using e-cigarettes and smoking and a diagnosis of Covid-19? And it certainly seems like a pretty strong one. signal, “said Williams, who was not involved in the study. One area that now warrant further study, he said, is why this association may be between vaping and Covid-19.
“Is it something to do with the actual ritual of bringing your hand to your face? Bringing your germs to your face? Is it the result of sharing vaping devices or sharing cigarettes? Or is it something to do with smoking or how? “Does vaping cause inflammation in your breath or affect your immune system, making it more susceptible to infection?” Williams said. “These things are not clear at this point.”
While there are many questions left to answer, a separate study recently examined how many young adults may be at this increased Covid risk due to vaping as well as other risk factors.
Smoking as a risk factor
The researchers found 32% of the study’s total population were medically vulnerable to severe Covid-19. However, when the group of participants who smoked cigarettes or e-cigarettes were excluded from the analysis, the medically vulnerable percentage dropped by half, to 16%.
“This difference between estimates is largely driven by the large proportion of young adults who reported engaging in past 30 days of smoking (1 in 10) and past 30 days of e-cigarette use (1 in 14). ), “the researchers wrote in their study. “In contrast, relatively fewer young adults reported medical conditions identified by the CDC as presenting with serious disease risk.”
The study found that in the entire study population, young adult men were at higher risk for severe Covid-19. Although more women report having asthma and immune disorders, higher rates of smoking in men transmit this. However, as women commonly saw, women were at a higher risk.
For that paper, other researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, researched and analyzed 19 previously published studies on the association between smoking and Covid-19. Those studies included data on a total of 11,590 Covid-19 patients. None of the studies assessed use of e-cigarettes.
In their review of those studies, the researchers found that 29.8% of Covid-19 patients who had a history of smoking, their Covid-19 disease progression to a more serious disease compared to only 17.6 % of patients who do not smoke.
In their paper, the researchers called on doctors and public health professionals to collect data on smoking and use of e-cigarettes as part of clinical trials among Covid’s patients.
CNN’s Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.
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