E-Cigarette Use Linked with More Symptoms in People with COVID-19

People who vape and test positive for COVID-19 are more likely to have symptoms compared with people who test positive and don’t use e-cigarettes, a new study finds.

Mayo Clinic researchers found people who vaped and tested positive for COVID-19 were more likely to report chills, headaches, chest pain, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and the loss of taste or smell, HealthDay reports.

People in the study who tested positive for COVID-19, used e-cigarettes and also smoked tobacco were more likely than those who didn’t vape to complain of labored breathing. They also had more frequent emergency department visits.

“Our research was not designed to test whether e-cigarette use increases the risk of acquiring COVID infection, but it clearly indicates that symptom burden in patients with COVID-19 who vape is greater than in those who do not vape,” study co-author Robert Vassallo, M.D., said in a news release. “During a pandemic with a highly transmissible respiratory pathogen like SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), it is highly advisable to reduce or stop vaping and e-cigarette use, and minimize the potential for increased symptoms and lung injury.”