During the relatively short time that we have been facing the COVID-19 pandemic, international laboratories have published hundreds of studies trying to determine with more accuracy how the contagion of this coronavirus is, through what medium (through the air, in aerosols. ..) and how long it lasts on objects; all this, to minimize contagions. We already know that SARS-CoV-2 travels in microscopic droplets of saliva; that it is not spread through sexual intercourse, but it is spread through kisses; that it cannot spread through intestinal gas, but its presence has been found in feces and urine …
Certain local governments, such as the Autonomous Community of Galicia, have decided to ban smoking in public places, thus hoping to reduce the risk of spread. But what scientific evidence is there in this regard? Can the coronavirus be spread through tobacco smoke?
Francisco José Roig Vázquez, doctor of medicine and associate physician of the Pneumology service of the Hospital 12 de Octubre (who has been interviewed by Muy Interesante on other occasions) gives us some clues to answer this question.
The quick answer is no; coronavirus does not ‘travel’ in tobacco smoke or, to be cautious, there are not enough clinical studies to show that SARS-COV-2 uses cigarette smoke to spread.
“There are no studies that compare whether the exhaled air of a smoker has a viral load to infect, compared to another COVID-19 patient who is not smoking. Whether tobacco smoke is a transmitting vehicle or not has not yet been proven ”, the doctor explained to Very Interesting.
However, similar studies have analyzed the spread of another type of virus through tobacco smoke. For example, Dr. Roig points to research from 2018, published by a journal of the United States Academy of Medicine (PNAS). This study concluded that tobacco smoke did not facilitate the transmission of the flu virus (influenza).
“As we are talking about viruses, it is also very likely that the same thing happens with SARS-CoV-2.”
However; Does this mean that smokers can relax? The fact that there is no evidence that smoke can spread the coronavirus is no reason to stop proposing measures such as the one that the Galician government has implemented.There are other reasons why the coronavirus and tobacco can be a problematic combination, and just as important.
To begin with, as Roig Vázquez points out, although they have the same probability of being infected as a non-smoker, at the same time, they are more likely to develop a serious illness with COVID-19, compared to non-smokers. This not only contributes to generating critical patients, but also to contagion: “Smoking or vaping is associated with more coughing and spitting, which can facilitate the spread of viruses“, Explain.
In addition, the doctor adds: “Exposure, direct or passive, to tobacco smoke can inflame the airway and be a predisposing factor for a greater severity of COVID-19”.
Smoking in public places entails, not only the exposure of third parties to tobacco smoke, but also a series of habits that, according to Roig Vázquez, would not be very favorable for health prevention measures either. For example: “Hand-mouth-mask gestures facilitate transmission by contact of the coronavirus with contaminated saliva“, Explain.
Finally, in the opinion of Dr. Roig Vázquez, it is more than criticizable that governments have considered tobacconists as ‘essential businesses’.“This is a contradictionIt seems that they do not care about tobacco smoke in COVID-19, but only if this smoke can transmit the coronavirus. “As an alternative, Roig points out, the financed sale of nicotine substitutes could have been considered to avoid withdrawal.
Smoking, in addition to being an important public health problem in itself, not only does not contribute to curbing the pandemic but, in some cases, it can worsen the situation of patients with COVID-19 or create certain circumstances that facilitate the spread.
All this despite the fact that it has not been proven that smoke is a vehicle for transmitting the virus, which is yet to be determined.
