COVID-19 and Vaping

[memzey]

Government guidance is officially out:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...vapers/covid-19-advice-for-smokers-and-vapers

 

[Mr Ripple]

Government guidance is officially out:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...vapers/covid-19-advice-for-smokers-and-vapers

Very ballanced in my opinion and worth extracting.

Vaping and COVID-19
E-cigarettes (vapes) can be an effective aid to stopping smoking and staying smokefree. The evidence on the health risks of e-cigarettes is still developing. However, it is clear that vaping is far less harmful to the respiratory system than smoking. There is very little evidence on vaping and COVID-19 and it is unknown whether vaping makes you more susceptible to severe disease if you become infected. If it does, the risk is likely to be much less than if you smoke.

Vaping remains much less harmful than smoking for most people and it is very important that you avoid returning to smoking.

Vaping involves repetitive hand-to-face movements, which provide greater risk of a route of entry into the body for viruses. To reduce the risk of contact with COVID-19, you should:

• wash your hands more frequently than usual, for 20 seconds, with soap and water (or use hand sanitiser if soap is not available)
• clean your e-cigarette regularly

Public Health England (PHE) strongly advises against sharing any vaping devices.

PHE’s 2018 independent e-cigarette evidence review found that, to date, there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders. There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 can be caught from passive exposure to e-cigarette vapour, but in the absence of evidence, we recommend that vapers avoid exhaling clouds of vapour in the presence of others.

Visit Smokefree for information and advice on using e-cigarettes to help you stop smoking.

 

[Car147]

Good balanced and sensible report.

 

[MrDJ]

whats the bet the press wont post anything about this.

taking bets now for how long it takes for another anti vape flawed research paper from america to hit all the tabloids and news channels.
id say within 10 days.

well done PHE

 

[memzey]

I also note the under-reporting of French research which indicates that nicotene retards the replication of the virus. Such a story would run completely counter to the current anti-vape narrative and thus fails to get much air time.

 

[Mr Ripple]

I also note the under-reporting of French research which indicates that nicotene retards the replication of the virus. Such a story would run completely counter to the current anti-vape narrative and thus fails to get much air time.

Not sure it works like that tbh but I'll be happy to be corrected.
I think it's likely that the gunk coating the lungs from smoking prohibits to a degree the viruses ability to attach itself to the cells of the lungs.

 

[memzey]

Evidence is inconclusive but the hypothesis is that the active party is the nicotene itself and that the gunk coating the lungs actually makes things worse. That's why France recently put restrictions in place on nicotene products and is trialing patches as a treatment:

https://theconversation.com/does-nicotine-protect-us-against-coronavirus-137488

An excerpt:

The authors of the French study suggest the mechanism behind the protective effects of smoking could be found in nicotine.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, gains entry into human cells by latching onto protein receptors called ACE2, which are found on certain cells’ surfaces.

The researchers have proposed nicotine attaches to the ACE2 receptors, thereby preventing the virus from attaching and potentially reducing the amount of virus that can get into a person’s lung cells.

The researchers are now planning to test their hypothesis in a randomised trial involving nicotine patches; though the trial is still awaiting approval from French health authorities.

 

[Gert Meyers]

The researchers are now planning to test their hypothesis in a randomised trial involving nicotine patches; though the trial is still awaiting approval from French health authorities.

Wow. They're gonna nicotine-patch non-smokers? Is that even ethical, considering just how addictive nicotine really is?

 

[memzey]

Wow. They're gonna nicotine-patch non-smokers? Is that even ethical, considering just how addictive nicotine really is?

That's a good point but the other side of the equation is that lots of medicines that can be addiction forming are still available or being trialled. I guess if the need is great enough it will be considered an acceptable risk.