Young people who smoke or use electronic cigarettes are more than five times more likely to contract coronavirus, according to a study published Tuesday by the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The study found that of young adults who were tested for coronavirus, those who reported smoking or using e-cigarettes were five to seven times more likely to be infected than non-smokers.
“We were surprised,” said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and senior author of the study. told NBC News. “We might expect to see some relationships … but certainly not on the odds ratios and the meaning we see it here.”
The Stanford study marks the first national population-based look at links between vaping and smoking and coronavirus in young people. It is based on surveys of 4,351 participants aged 13 to 24 from across the country.
It is unclear from the study exactly what the relationship is between vaping and contracting COVID-19. Researchers said it could potentially be the fact that vaping causes damage to lungs and that aerosol emissions from e-cigarettes could have drops containing coronavirus.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
Subramanian (Raja) Raja KrishnamoorthiHouse Democrats find Trump officials overpaid for fans by as much as 0 million Milley confirms soldiers deployed in DC amid unrest were given bayonets. Democrats seek information on the administration of the treasury of ‘program’ chance zone ‘MORE (D-Ill.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Supervision and Reform, wrote a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn cites the new Stanford study, and calls on the FDA to clear the e-cigarette market for the duration of the pandemic.
The congressman had earlier called on the FDA to ban e-cigarettes after previous studies showed they increased the risk of contracting COVID-19. On Tuesday, he gave the FDA an Aug. 18 deadline to respond to whether they will order e-cigarettes to be removed from the shelves, and if so, to provide a written description of how they plan to are to do this.
“The science is now in: e-cigarette users are much more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and experience symptoms,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “While we are not writing today to address the safety of e-cigarettes for adult smokers following the deadly spread of COVID-19, it is evident that the juvenile vaping epidemic has combined forces with the Coronavirus pandemic, creating a much more deadly enemy that requires FDA action. ”
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