Are smokers more likely to get sick?

Confinement linked to the coronavirus, telework and addictions do not mix. Smokers, and non-smokers, know something about it. Readers of 20 Minutes asked us the following questions:

"Are non-smokers more likely to resist Covid-19 better?" »Yves

"I am a smoker, am I more likely to get coronavirus?" »Laura

"Can a smoker carrying the virus contaminate those around him with exhaled smoke?" »Zahra

"Can wind and cigarette smoke spread the virus?" »Thomas

Here are the answers that 20 Minutes found:

People aged 70 and over, those with chronic kidney disease on dialysis and heart failure, pregnant women, patients with a cardiovascular history ... On its website, the High Public Health Committee (HCSP) presents the list of people at risk of develop a severe form of Covid-19 infection. But smokers are not one of them. Does this mean that the coronavirus spares them? Not so far.

No more risk of being contaminated. The Interior Ministry says that “smokers are no more at risk of being infected. However, they are more at risk of developing serious forms. This is underlined by the Alliance against tobacco, which, on March 4, took up data from a Chinese study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 28.

Screen capture from the Tobacco Alliance and Coronavirus Press Release. - Alliance against tobacco

These data "do not demonstrate a causal link" between smoking and risk of being contaminated, but they do account for the fact that "smoking increases the risk of developing a severe or very severe form of Covid-19 by +50%, as well as 'a risk of death of + 133% compared to non-smokers'.

Think about your health and that of your loved ones, do not put yourself in unnecessary danger, follow the instructions and protect yourself more by quitting smoking. https://t.co/wD2KtTglUU

For its part, the National Committee against smoking (CNCT) declares that, on the one hand, "smoking damages the lung tissue, and therefore makes smokers more vulnerable to the arrival of the virus", and that, on the other hand , "Smokers regularly wear their fingers potentially carrying viruses to the mouth, a frequent entry point for the virus".

Smoke, a potential vector of the virus. The association for the prevention and protection of people facing the dangers of smoking also claims that “smokers infected with the coronavirus are potentially major contaminants of their entourage through passive smoking, due to their frequent cough and the presence in smoke tobacco particles on which the viruses attach themselves which can then be inhaled by the entourage. "Finally, these potentially contagious particles" are deposited on furniture, carpets, clothing ... and are at the origin of ultra-passive smoking, by inhalation, following their release into the air, and by ingestion, in particular for small children who lick their fingers.

#cesoirechezbaba Can smoke emitted by a healthy carrier vapor transmit coronavirus?

As for "vapers, it is too early to say if they are more often affected and / or have more severe forms than non-smokers who are not vapers," recognizes the CNCT. On the other hand, he continues, " the particles present in the vapor exhaled by the vapers infected by the coronavirus are potentially carriers of the virus and can be at the origin of contamination by passive and ultra-passive vaping", in the same way as for smoking.

"Smokers or vapers, do not smoke and do not vape at home, enjoins Professor Yves Martinet, president of the CNCT, on the association's website. If you are going out, go out alone and at a minimum distance of 10 m from all people and homes. "

20 Minutes was unable to reach infectious disease specialists on Tuesday. However, according to Bertrand Dautzenberg, a former pulmonologist at the Salpêtrière Hospital and a tobacco specialist at the Arthur-Verne Institute, quoted by Santé Magazine , transmission of the virus by smoke or vapor has not been scientifically proven. But it confirms the presence of a danger of contact via the eyes, the nose and the mouth, and the expelled saliva droplets which transmit covid-19. And smokers and vapers touch their faces more often than non-smokers.

Do you want to stop smoking ? Call Tabac-Info-Service at 3989 or contact your doctor, pharmacist or addictologist.

So that you can see more clearly, 20 Minutes is trying to answer your questions, which you can send us by following the procedure below. Thank you in advance (and take care of yourself)!

• Health
• Covid 19
• Coronavirus
• Society
• Tobacco
• Vaping