Are smokers more likely to be at risk from coronavirus?

Are smokers more likely to be at risk from coronavirus?

Smoking can make people more susceptible to serious complications from a coronavirus infection, the European Union agency for disease control said.

In its updated assessment of the risks caused by the coronavirus, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) included smokers among those potentially most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Smokers have also appeared to be more susceptible to breathing complications caused by the disease, and the ECDC said it was advisable to identify them as a potential vulnerable group, confirming an earlier assessment.

The agency cited a study by Chinese doctors which on a sample of 99 patients affected by the coronavirus found that acute smokers were more at risk of dying than elderly people.

The ECDC report also said smoking was associated with heightened activity in the lungs of an enzyme, ACE2, that could make patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, citing a study conducted by Guoshuai Cai, from the University of South Carolina.

The activity of ACE2, or angiotensin converting enzyme 2, also increases with age and with some kinds of hypertension treatment – both risk factors – the ECDC said.