AUTHOR=Dai Mengyuan , Tao Liyuan , Chen Zhen , Tian Zhi , Guo Xiaofang , Allen-Gipson Diane S. , Tan Ruirong , Li Rui , Chai Li , Ai Fen , Liu Miao TITLE=Influence of Cigarettes and Alcohol on the Severity and Death of COVID-19: A Multicenter Retrospective Study in Wuhan, China JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.588553 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2020.588553 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=Background

The recent emergence and rapid global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is leading to public health crises worldwide. Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking (CS) are two known risk factors in many diseases including respiratory infections.

Methods

We performed a multi-center study in the four largest hospitals designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan. There are totally 1547 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 enrolled in the study, alcohol consumption and CS history were evaluated among these patients. The epidemiology, laboratory findings and outcomes of patients contracted COVID-19 were further studied.

Results

Our findings indicated that COVID-19 patients with a history of CS tend to have more severe outcomes than non-smoking patients. However, alcohol consumption did not reveal significant effects on neither development of severe illness nor death rates in COVID-19 patients.

Conclusion

CS is a risk factor for developing severe illness and increasing mortality during the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We believe that our findings will provide a better understanding on the effects of alcohol intake and CS exposure in COVID-19 patients.