Smokers belong to the risk group and are at risk of falling seriously ill with Covid-19 - this is what doctors assume.
A current study paints a new picture.
A coronavirus infection carries the risk of developing a dangerous disease course, especially for elderly and immunocompromised people.
However, depending on their state of health, it can also hit younger people hard.
According to the current state of knowledge, smokers in particular are at risk *.
Anyone who smokes damages their bronchi, which favors severe Covid 19 courses - as far as most medical professionals assume.
Regensburg researchers have dealt with the topic again
.
Update from May 15, 2020: Smokers suffer less from corona symptoms - shows a small-scale evaluation
Researchers from Regensburg based their study on the data of 1,084 corona patients from Regensburg and the surrounding area.
They investigated the question of how smoking affects the course of the disease.
A telephone interview was conducted six weeks after infection with 419 healthy patients - 50 of them were smokers, 367 non-smokers, two patients did not provide any information.
The result of the evaluation: On
average, smokers suffered from corona symptoms for a significantly shorter period than the non-smokers surveyed.
In addition, according to the Regensburg study, smokers reported less smell and taste disorders, colds and breathing disorders.
Dr.
Benedikt Lampl from the Regensburg Health Department on the less pronounced symptoms in smokers: “For example, one could imagine that smokers often suffer from smoker's cough.
That is, it is a "symptom" that smokers may have persistently.
So that an additional cough due to a corresponding infection is not so important in your own perception, especially if it is only mild. "
According to Lampl, rtl.de warns: "
The question of whether you should quasi become a smoker in order to protect yourself from Covid infection can only be answered emphatically as a doctor with NO
."
Update from April 23, 2020: Smokers belong to the Covid 19 risk group regardless of age
Data from China had shown that smoking immensely increases the risk of severe Covid 19 courses regardless of age *.
Professor Michael Pfeifer, managing director of the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DGP) therefore advises: "
Quit smoking straight away
".
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk he said: "Our airways are lined with so-called cilia that ensure that the airways clean themselves."
Smoking would damage the cilia, which can make it much easier for coronaviruses to enter the body via the lungs and then spread further.
Even if the bronchial mucous membrane damaged by smoking needs some time to recover and can even remain permanently damaged in long-term smokers
, Pfeifer sees a sensible measure in stopping
smoking
immediately
- also with regard to the fact that cigarettes are anything but beneficial to health.
Questionable ingredients in the liquid in e-cigarettes * also damage the bronchial mucous membrane, can cause cancer and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Update from March 23rd, 2020: Young people also affected by severe Covid-19 courses
So far, many young people have felt safe in view of the novel lung disease Covid-19.
But new studies show that an infection with coronavirus * can also take a severe course in younger people.
American researchers had evaluated the coronavirus infections reported in the United States by March 16.
508 patients had to be treated in hospital because of severe disease, of which 20 percent were 20 to 44 years old - almost a quarter
.
To the study
Article from March 19, 2020
:
Constantly
new confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide do not give a sigh of relief.
The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University has reported 2,649,680 cases of the novel lung disease Covid-19 worldwide
.
184,643 deaths are reported (as of April 23, 2020).
In Germany, with 150,773 coronavirus infections reported so far, there have already been 5,319 deaths.
More on the topic
:
Covid-19: Germany reports low death rate - people who have already been cured are probably immune
.
Corona pandemic: on average, the patients were 51 years old
Serious disease progression is observed especially in risk groups, as reported by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as the higher federal authority for infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases.
These include:
older people (from around 50 years of age the risk of a severe course increases)
Smoker
People with previous diseases of the heart, lungs (such as asthma or chronic bronchitis) or the liver (chronic liver disease)
People with diabetes *, cancer or a weakened immune system (e.g. by taking drugs that weaken the immune system, such as cortisone)
For younger and healthy people, an infection with coronavirus * usually does not pose a threat to life, but serious disease courses are also possible here.
The RKI summarizes: "
The course of the disease is unspecific, diverse and varies greatly, from symptom-free courses to severe pneumonia with lung failure and death
. Therefore, no general statements about the 'typical' course of the disease can be made".
People who have contracted coronavirus but do not show symptoms usually do not see a doctor.
The disease is not recognized.
However, there are valid figures from China:
The 5,924 laboratory-confirmed cases recorded in China by February 20, 2020 were mild to moderate in around 80 percent of patients
, as the RKI reported.
14 percent were severe but not life-threatening and six percent of the cases were classified as critical to life-threatening.
On average, the Chinese patients were 51 years old; a good three quarters of the cases occurred in the 30 to 69 year old age group.
It was noticeable that the under 20 year olds were hardly affected at 2.4 percent.
Also read
:
Coronavirus: The typical symptoms of Sars-CoV-2 infection
.
Deaths as a result of Covid-19 in Germany: pensioners particularly at risk
For Germany there is no age analysis
, but a breakdown by federal state has been published.
Confirmed coronavirus infections in Germany by federal state
(as of April 23, 2020):
North Rhine-Westphalia: 30,584 cases, 999 deaths
Bavaria: 39,395 cases, 1,476 deaths
Baden-Württemberg: 29,443 cases, 1,113 deaths
Lower Saxony: 9,391 cases, 340 deaths
Berlin: 5,324 cases, 105 deaths
Hessen: 7,593 cases, 286 deaths
Hamburg: 4,286 cases, 113 deaths
Rhineland-Palatinate: 5,643 cases, 131 deaths
Saxony: 4,327 cases, 127 deaths
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 659 cases, 15 deaths
Brandenburg: 2,447 cases, 84 deaths
Schleswig-Holstein: 2,530 cases, 84 deaths
Saarland: 2,395 cases, 99 deaths
Saxony-Anhalt: 1,425 cases, 34 deaths
Bremen: 672 cases, 27 deaths
Thuringia: 1,932 cases, 61 deaths
Sources: www.rki.de; www.rki.de/Steckbrief; www.nrd.de; www.experience.arcqis.com; www.wdr.de; https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html; www.businessinsider.de
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* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / Jens Kalaene
