According to a new study conducted by Stanford researchers and published in Science Direct , young adults and adolescents who smoke cigarettes or vape are at more risk of catching Covid-19 than the person who does not smoke.

The study mentioned that smokers are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19, while vapers are five times as likely to be diagnosed.

The researchers averred that their findings, deduced from a national sample of adolescents and young adults, show that the use of e-cigarette or of e-cigarettes and cigarettes are significant underlying risk factors for Covid-19, which was not previously known.

“Our population-based research provides timely evidence that youth using e-cigarettes and dual-users of e-cigarettes and cigarettes are at greater risk of Covid-19,” the authors noted.

There are a number of potential reasons why both dual-use and e-cigarette use were associated with Covid-19 infection. Heightened exposure to nicotine and other chemicals in e-cigarettes adversely affects lung function, they added.

According to the Hopkins Organization report, the initial data that had arrived from China demonstrated that the Covid-19 threat largely loomed over the elderly. However, as the virus spilled beyond China and testing got ramped up, there were more recognised cases among youths.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also showed that younger adults are also vulnerable to Covid-19, and some even require hospitalisation and intensive care.

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