Covid 19

A study shows a Connection between Secondhand Smoke and COVID-19 Severity

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Pakyong, 13 March: The severity of COVID-19 in non-smokers has been linked to secondhand smoke, according to a study conducted by the AIIMS-Gorakhpur.

The first-of-its-kind study, which was conducted in six states, found that people who reported being exposed to secondhand smoke at home and at work had a considerably higher risk of getting severe COVID-19 than people who weren’t.
The executive director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Surekha Kishore, stated that the health hazards associated with exposure to SHS violate the fundamental right to life.
The results of our multi-center investigation show that secondhand smoking exposure makes non-smokers more susceptible to COVID-19 severity.

She stated, “I applaud the government for starting the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act) 2003 amending process and urge it to quicken this process so that non-smokers can be protected from being exposed to tobacco products both directly and indirectly.

Few studies have examined the effect of secondhand smoke on the severity of COVID cases, despite the fact that research has indicated that smoking increases the risk of infection with COVID-19 and the severity of the illness.
According to specialists, secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and is a known cause of conditions like lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and chronic lung disease that worsen COVID-19.
Smoking is still permitted in designated smoking areas at airports, hotels with 30 or more rooms, and restaurants with a capacity of 30 or more, despite India’s tobacco control law prohibiting smoking in many indoor public places, the workplace, and public transportation.

According to the statement, the goal of the study was to investigate the relationship between inhaling secondhand smoke at home or at work and the severity of COVID-19 in non-smokers.

Those who were identified with COVID-19 and admitted to hospitals between January 2020 and February 2022 with severe symptoms of the virus were found by the researchers using in-patient records.
To avoid the confounding effects of smoking, the study was conducted among non-smokers.
“Severity of COVID-19 was substantially linked with reported exposure to secondhand smoking at home and reported exposure at work. The study indicated that exposure to SHS “substantially increased the risks of developing severe COVID-19 compared to those not exposed, after adjusting for all potential confounders.

The study found that the risks of having severe COVID were 3.03 times higher for individuals who had residential exposure to secondhand smoke than for those who did not after accounting for all potential confounders using multi-nominal regression analysis.

Those who were exposed to SHS at work had a 2.19 higher risk of having severe COVID-19 than people who weren’t.

Body mass index, blood sugar and blood pressure levels, immunization status, and body mass index were additional health factors that were strongly linked to COVID-19 severity. According to the study, the severity of the condition was also highly correlated with age, marital status, level of education, and socioeconomic status.

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