Families across the country are keeping up with the social distancing guidelines to stop the wild spread of coronavirus. The same could happen betweeen you and your cigarettes or vaping products. The New York State Academy of Family Physicians has called for a ban on tobacco and e-cigarette products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group's President Dr. Barbara Keber cited recent findings that show patients who smoke or vape have more severe cases of COVID-19 and need more extensive treatment than those who don't
"There's something called A2 marker in the pulmonary cell and with finding that nicotine has some effects on that particular marker or that receptor, and we know that the virus actually have a prepondrance for those receptors," said Keber.
She said a ban on tobacco and vaping products could result in a reduction in use and could keep some COVID -19 cases less severe. Keber added that it might reduce the illness related to smoking.
Smoking and vaping increase rates of cancer, heart disease and asthma which take up valuable hospital space, according to Keber.
"We want to try and keep those people out of the hospital to free up beds to be able to take of the people that we have who are taking of people with COVID-19" said Keber.
Lung-related illnesses spiked in 2019, and The Family Physicians Academy is hopeful that this could stop the use of tobacco and nicotine products and prevent children and teenagers from being exposed to these products.
"Any person we can get to quit smo0king or vaping is a plus. We also are talking interms of vaping especially about high school students who are developing life-long habit. May be we can stop those life-long habit by making it not available for some period of time."
Keber is clear the research that shows COVID 19 cases being more serious among smokers is relatively new. Though case studies from areas including Wuhan, China suggest patients with the disease who smoke were 14 times more likely to have it progress to hospitalization and extensive treatment.