Smokers likely to be more ill with Covid

A STUDY suggests smokers are 80% more likely to be hospitalised and significantly more likely to die from coronavirus than non-smokers.

The research, led by Oxford University, is the first of its kind to analyse both observational and genetic data on smoking and coronavirus.

Until now, experts said data had been conflicting on the extent to which smoking affected the risk of hospital admission from Covid-19.

The team studied primary care records, Covid test results, hospital admissions data and death certificates to therefore address the issue. Some 421,469 people were included.

Among them, 1,649 tested positive for Covid, 968 were admitted to hospital related to the virus and 444 people died with

Covid. Most (59%) of the overall group had never smoked, over a third (37%) were former smokers and 4% were current smokers.

Among current smokers, most (71%) were light or moderate smokers (one to 19 cigarettes per day) and 29% were heavy smokers (20 or more per day).

The results showed that, compared with never-smokers, current smokers had an 80% higher risk of hospital admission with Covid.

They were twice as likely to die if they smoked one to nine cigarettes a day, while those smoking 10 to 19 cigarettes a day were almost six times more likely to die. Among heavier smokers, people who smoked more than 20 a day were over six times more likely to die compared to people who had never smoked. Genetic analysis showed that among those genetically more likely to smoke, there was a higher risk of Covid infection and hospital admissions. The authors concluded that their “results from two analytical approaches support a causal effect of smoking on risk of severe Covid”. Dr Ashley Clift, the lead researcher from Oxford, said: “Our results strongly suggest smoking is related to your risk of getting severe Covid, just as smoking affects your risk of heart disease, different cancers.”