‘Quit smoking, take care of your lungs’
IF EVER there was a time to quit smoking – that time is now, said Savera Kalideen of the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS).
“As the infection rate increases, now is the time to take care of your lungs by not smoking cigarettes, shisha, vaping or using e-cigarettes.
“Also, with more people spending increased amounts of time at home, we must make sure children and nonsmokers are not exposed to harmful second-hand smoke that could make them more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.”
Although the coronavirus pandemic is evolving too rapidly for conclusive evidence to have emerged on the effect of tobacco smoking on an individual’s susceptibility to Covid-19 infection, Kalideen said there was already overwhelming evidence that people who smoked were at an increased risk of getting lung and chest infections.
“If smoking makes you more susceptible to lung infections caused by respiratory viruses, such as flu, or bacteria as in the case of tuberculosis (TB), you may be more vulnerable to contracting Covid-19 compared to people who don’t smoke.”
Smoking also fundamentally affects the immune system, making it harder to fight infection. Existing evidence suggests that smokers with damaged lungs and weakened immune systems would be likely to be more severely affected by Covid-19 if they become infected, just as they are with flu and TB.
Kalideen said South Africa had one of the highest rates of HIV infections in the world – with 7.7 million people living with the disease – making us vulnerable.
HIV has made people more susceptible to TB and 60% of HIVpositive people in the country also have TB.
The Academy of Science of South Africa said people with HIV are already eight times more likely to be admitted to hospital for flu-linked pneumonia.
Scientists do not know how Covid-19 will affect people with HIV and TB, although there is concern about their increased susceptibility.
While people of all ages can contract Covid-19, the elderly and those with underlying conditions, such as lung disease, are most at risk of experiencing more severe disease progression according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The WHO’s statistics show that in South Africa alone, smoking results in more than half of lung cancer deaths and over 20% of TB deaths.
“As with many lung-related diseases, tobacco use increases the risk of contracting TB and experiencing recurrent TB, as well as impairing patients’ response to treatment.”
Scientific evidence
Dr Catherine Egbe, a specialist scientist of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit at the South African Medical Research Council, said although evidence did not indicate that smokers were more likely to contract Covid-19 than non-smokers, scientists had found that smokers were more likely to show disease progression or complications when they contracted the virus.
Egbe added that these findings should not come as a surprise.
“It is well documented that smokers are at higher risks of cardiovascular diseases and Covid-19 is known to also affect the cardiovascular system. Global research suggests that older people and people with chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, are at higher risk of dying from Covid-19 than the average population.”
Second-hand smoking is known to cause harm.
Professor Pamela Naidoo, the chief executive of the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, said that in a recent study in the Western Cape, nicotine was found in the system of newborn infants and non-smokers.
Naidoo said exposure to secondhand smoke damaged lungs and depressed the immune system, increasing susceptibility to chest and respiratory infections.
“Protect the lungs of those around you, particularly children and the elderly, and ensure they are not exposed to second-hand smoke.”
Hope
There is light at the end of the tunnel for smokers who quit now.
“People who smoke are at increased risk of lung infections in general, but the lungs do heal over time when people stop smoking,” Egbe said.
“While it takes 10 to 15 years for smokers who quit to regain full health – equal to that of someone who has never smoked – smokers who quit begin to experience physiological changes within hours of quitting. Over time, their susceptibility to lung infections like bronchitis and pneumonia also decreases.”
The message from the NCAS, the Cancer Association of South Africa, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the South African Medical Research Council in the time of Covid-19 is clear.
Stop smoking now and do the best you can to boost your immune system and improve your lung health.