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The danger of covid-19 in electronic cigarette smokers 0:31
(CNN) - Smokers and ex-smokers, including those who use e-cigarettes, have a significantly higher risk of developing severe cases of covid-19 and dying from the disease than nonsmokers, according to a new study from the University of California, San Francisco.
"Smoking is associated with a substantially increased risk of covid-19 progression," Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine at UCSF's Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, said in a statement.
The meta-analysis, or study study, analyzed 19 peer-reviewed articles from China, South Korea, and the United States. It found that 30% of smokers developed more severe forms of covid-19 compared to 17.6% of nonsmokers.
"The meta-analysis showed an association between smoking and the progression of covid-19," Glantz and colleagues wrote in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
"Smoking and e-cigarette use increase the risk and severity of lung infections due to damage to the upper airways and a decrease in overall lung immune function, although these effects have not yet been studied for SARS-VOC -2, the virus that causes covid-19, "they wrote.
"Smokers have a higher known risk of infection and mortality from MERS-VOC, a viral respiratory illness caused by a different coronavirus."
The analysis probably underestimated how smoking affects the risk of contracting coronavirus in the general population, the authors said, because the studies the analysis is based on only focused on those who had already developed covid-19.
But the authors urged health officials to add quitting both tobacco and e-cigarette products to the list of steps needed to curb the pandemic, and they advocate for increased data collection on smokers and e-cigarette users to See if they are at increased risk of contracting the disease.
Smokers