As researchers continue probing the COVID-19 pandemic, a landmark study from China links smoking to elevated risks of severe disease. The Alliance Against Tobacco, a Paris-based advocacy group, has spotlighted these results.
With COVID-19 reaching France, experts have flagged vulnerabilities like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic bronchial inflammation primarily driven by smoking. The France BPCO association warns that these patients are especially susceptible.
Beyond COPD, are smokers at greater risk for severe COVID-19? An Alliance Against Tobacco note from March 4, 2020, cites a Chinese study published February 28, 2020, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This collaborative effort by the China Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19 analyzed 1,100 patients. Results show a clear link between smoking history and severe outcomes. While most cases are mild—even post-mutation—smokers fare worse.
Among non-smokers, 14% developed severe disease, versus 21% of smokers. Critical cases were even rarer: 5% in non-smokers vs. 12% in smokers.
CNRS researcher Sandrine Belouzard echoed this pre-study, telling LCI on February 19, 2020, that smoking fuels chronic bronchitis and respiratory issues—potential comorbidities worsening COVID-19.
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