Here is another cloud on the horizon for e-cigarette companies.
A new Stanford study links vaping to a “substantially increased risk” of COVID-19 in teens and young adults. The nationwide sample of more than 4,000 participants conducted in May found that people who were armed were five to seven times more likely to be infected with the new coronavirus, compared to those who were not armed.
Among the subjects tested for COVID-19, those who had ever used e-cigarettes were five times more likely to test positive for the virus than non-users. And those who have used both e-cigarettes and conventional tobacco cigarettes in the past month were 6.8 times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
Teens who smoked and guns were also five times more likely to report coronavirus symptoms, including cough, fever, fatigue, and difficulty breathing, compared with those who had never smoked or guns. And this same group was about two to nine times more likely to test for the virus than non-vapers and non-smokers, probably because they were more likely to have symptoms.
“Young people may believe that their age protects them from contracting the virus or that they will not experience any symptoms of COVID-19, but the data show that this is not true among those who vape,” the lead author said. of the study, Drs. Shivani Mathur Gaiha, wrote in a statement. “This study tells us quite clearly that youth who use weapons or double use [e-cigarettes and cigarettes] are at increased risk, and it is not just a small increase in risk; it is a large. ”
Some limitations include the fact that the study relied on self-reports from online surveys, and it also offers no reason why vaping would make young people more susceptible to the virus that has infected at least 20 million and killed 743,599 and counted worldwide as of Wednesday morning.
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“It’s not just a small increase in risk; it is a large. ”
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A recent report from the University of San Francisco suggested that smoking, including e-cigarettes, doubled the risk of young adults (ages 18 to 25) becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. “An important finding is that the most common factor affecting medical vulnerability to severe COVID-19 disease among young adults is smoke,” the authors wrote.
And previous research has suggested a link between vaping and both lung and heart disease. The American Heart Association also recently recommended that people “do not smoke substance, vape, including cannabis products, because of potential damage to the heart, lungs and blood vessels.”
Research has also warned that e-cigarettes actually encourage teens to try traditional cigarettes, even though the products are often brought to mind as an alternative to cigarettes and a means to quit smoking. In fact, the chances of ever smoking a cigarette were four times higher than the teenager using an e-cigarette as her first tobacco product, one study of 6,000 young people found.
Read more:Vaping can be more harmful to teens than we thought
Theories as to why vaping could make adults more susceptible to COVID-19 include the potential damage it does to the lungs and the immune system, the Stanford study found, as well as the possibility that aerosols emitted from an electronic vaping device drop may contain contaminated with COVID -19.
What’s more, the researchers wrote that COVID-19 is known to spread through respiratory droplets, repeatedly touching your mouth and face – a habit common among cigarette and e-cig users. Perhaps worse, teens often share their vape pens and other e-cig devices with each other, which could also possibly spread the virus.
Related:Dr. Fauci advises wearing glasses to prevent the coronavirus from being caught
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) On Tuesday sent a letter to the FDA on behalf of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy on Tuesday requesting that vaping products be temporarily removed from the market. He noted that he warned the FDA in April about a potential switch between vaping and COVID-19, but the agency cited the need for more evidence that vaping was a risk. “That failure to act cost us four months of damage to Americans that we cannot return,” Krishnamoorthi wrote.
“I reiterate my call on the FDA to wipe out the e-cigarette market for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. It is the only responsible way forward, ”he added.
The FDA was not immediately available for comment. The COVID-19 FAQ warns that people who smoke traditional cigarettes may be more vulnerable to respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, because smoking causes lung disease and can cause inflammation and self-harm in the body. But it has less to say about e-cigarettes. For now, the FDA warns that vaping tobacco or nicotine can expose the lungs to toxic chemicals. “Whether these exposures increase the risk of COVID-19 or the severity of COVID-19 outcomes is not known,” the FDA site says. Indeed, COVID-19 is a never-before-seen virus that health experts are still learning about.
E-cigarettes were a $ 25 billion market last year, dominated by Juul, which is 35% owned by Altria Group MO,
Juul did not immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment on the new study as Krishnamoorthi’s call to suspend vaping products.
But the sector came under fire last year after a mysterious disease called E-cigarette as Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) sick Americans, with the CDC reporting 2,807 hospitalizations for the vaping-related disease as of late February this year.
The rise in teens and tweens vaping also became a cause for concern before the pandemic, as 5 million high school and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the FDA’s 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, including one in four high school students.
In January, the Trump administration banned fruit, candy, mint and dessert e-cig flavors popular with teens to prevent them from guns. But menthol and tobacco flavors were allowed to remain on the market. “We need to protect our families,” Trump said at the time. “At the same time, it is a large sector. We want to protect the sector. ”
Keep up with the ongoing Coronavirus MarketWatch coverage.
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