Smoking highly likely to worsen COVID-19 severity and risk of associated death

It is the first study of its kind to pool observational and genetic data on smoking and COVID-19 to strengthen the evidence base.

The evidence on whether smoking is associated with a greater likelihood of more severe COVID-19 infection has been inconsistent, note the researchers.

Several studies carried out early on in the pandemic reported a lower prevalence of active smokers among people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 than in the general population. But other population based studies have suggested that smoking is a risk factor for the infection.

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