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KOMPAS.com – Research on the pattern of coronavirus infection continues to emerge, to understand vulnerable or high risk individuals.
The age factor is known to be a risk factor, with people over the age of 65 at the highest risk and the younger group likely to show mild symptoms.
In addition to age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists health factors that can increase vulnerability. Most of these are chronic diseases that affect health status.
The single most modifiable risk factor for preventing a severe Covid-19 infection is the use of substances that are inhaled through cigarettes or e-cigarettes.
A new study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health uses national data to estimate the number of victims smoker and e-cigarette users at risk of Covid-19 for young adults.
Also read: Vape and Cigarettes are Just as Dangerous, Trigger Lung Cancer to Corona
The research team found that overall, nearly one in three young adults aged 18 to 25 in the United States are at high risk.
Although that risk goes down in those who don’t smoke or use e-cigarettes.
In other words, smoking and using e-cigarettes doubles the risk of Covid-19 in young adults.
This categorization of risks is more than just a theoretical concern. Smoking and using e-cigarettes both cause lung injury, which threatens the air reserves in the lungs.
Substance use can also weaken the immune system, which in turn reduces the body’s capacity to fight infection.
Also read: Simple Ways to Maintain Lung Health
A recent study found that teens and young adults who smoke and use e-cigarettes are five times more likely to report symptoms of Covid-19, and seven times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
A combined analysis using data from multiple studies found that among people infected with Covid-19, people with a history of smoking were twice as likely to develop the disease.
Increase the risk of transmission
Unlike other risk factors for severe Covid-19 disease, smoking and using e-cigarettes also inherently increases the risk of transmission.
These two activities are often social activities for young adult groups, so many of them are also carried out in public and crowded places.
Smoking and vaping involve forced exhaling, which can push the droplets they release to reach farther than breathing during rest. It becomes dangerous when the droplets carry Covid-19 particles.
The advice to stay two meters outside the home also does not seem to apply to vape smokers as they have to be more than that distance.
Also read: Why is a distance of 2 meters not enough to prevent the spread of Covid-19?
When smoking automatically they do not use masks. When combined, these factors pose a real threat to where people gather.
Therefore, schools and other public places would be better off if they prohibited smoking and vaping as part of the prevention of transmission.
Too confident to be safe from Covid-19
Young people tend to overestimate themselves and think they are in control of the situation. Not a few people underestimate Covid-19 and consider themselves invincible.
It is wrong to believe that young people are safe from Covid-19.
According to a CDC report, one in five people aged 22 to 44 have been infected and hospitalized, while two to four percent need an intensive care unit.
The best thing that can be done for young people is to become aware of the dangers of this pandemic and stop smoking.
Also read: There is no smoking alternative that is healthier than quitting
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