An article in the Economist gives some interesting insight.
Smokers seem less likely than non-smokers to fall ill with covid-19
Most of it is behind a paywall, but
Instapundit draws back the curtain.
Smokers are almost certainly not protected from initial infection by SARS-CoV-2. In fact, because they first handle and then puff on cigarettes, they may be especially susceptible—for transmission often takes place through the mouth’s mucous membranes. What seems to be happening is that infected smokers are less likely to develop symptoms, or, if they do develop them, are more likely than non-smokers to have symptoms which are mild. That means they are more likely to stay home and not to show up in hospital statistics.
All this suggests that something in tobacco smoke is having a protective effect. The best guess is that the something in question is nicotine.
I would caution everyone that smoking is still harmful, And a standard cigarette has many chemical compounds in it. Nicotine just seems to be the most obvious.
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Regarding smoking, the French noticed an odd point. Apparently 25.4% of the general population smokes. But only 5% of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients are smokers.
And another study of 700 people at a French school found 7.2% of smokers were infected. Among nonsmokers it was 28%
No one really knows what it means, if anything, but they speculate that it’s related to the fact that SARS-CoV-2 targets the same nicotine acetylcholine receptors in the lungs.
They do not recommend taking up smoking as a prophylactic again the virus. [grin]
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