Tobacco and COVID‑19

Abstract

Tobacco and its products are the well‑known causes of premature deaths associated with cancer,cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as they constitute asignificant risk factor that increases the tendency to respiratory system infection and other systemicinfections. Active tobacco use and passive smoking increase the risk of infection. Both increaseperibronchial and alveolar inflammation and fibrosis and mucosal permeability, cause inadequatemucociliary cleaning, damage to the respiratory tract epithelium resulting in fibrosis, and they adverselyaffect cellular and humoral immunity. Smoking has been known to increase the risk for viral infectionsand influenza. Similar data have been approved found for coronavirus disease‑2019 (COVID‑19)pandemic. Smoking is reported to be associated with the frequency of the disease and its severityof the clinical course. Severe acute respiratory syndrome‑coronavirus‑2 penetrates the cell usingthe angiotensin‑converting enzyme 2 receptors. Such receptor proteins had been shown to increasein smoker individuals. Also, smoking facilitates penetration of the virus into the cell. The frequencyof smoking and the rates of admission to intensive care, mechanical ventilation, and mortality havebeen also found to be higher was higher in severe cases. The risk for disease progression wasfound to be 14‑fold higher in smokers. Further, the World Health Organization emphasized similarnegative effects of hookah and new tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes and heatedtobacco products. It is vital to underline the adverse effects of tobacco and tobacco products and toraise awareness among the public and to make efforts to smoking on every opportunity during theCOVID‑19 pandemic. Public awareness campaigns during the pandemic must always accompaniedby the methods and strategies to avoid active and passive smoking.