But are e-cigarette users more vulnerable to coronavirus?
Young people who have tried e-cigarettes or smoke are more likely than average to be tested for Covid-19. This is according to a study from the US. And according to the researchers, the risk of being diagnosed with Covid-19 is higher if the young people have ever used an e-cigarette. But the study has been criticized.
The study, which has been published in Journal of Adolescent Health, has received a lot of media attention as it points to a link between e-cigarettes and Covid-19. According to the study, vejpning may be a contributing factor to the increase in the number of young people aged 13-23 years who contract the disease.
"Diagnosis was five times more common among those who had ever used an e-cigarette" the researchers write in their analysis of the material.
This may be because young people like vejpar socialize in a more risky way. At the same time, researchers suggest that e-cigarettes may have effects on the lungs and calls for more research to clarify the link.
Previous smoking and coughing
However, the study has been criticized from several quarters. British tobacco researcher Peter Hajek, which for a long time researched the health effects of e-cigarettes, argues that the analysis is contradictory. And that a study based on self-reported online data is open to major flaws.
"The likelihood of getting a diagnosis obviously increases as more people test within a particular group. And since the majority of people testing e-cigarettes are smokers or former smokers, they have symptoms like coughing and other things that lead them to test more often," says Peter Hajek in a commentary on the study.
E-cigarettes not linked to COVID-19
He also argues that a deeper analysis of the material shows the opposite result.
"It turns out that those who have never used an e-cigarette more often affected by Covid-19 than those who have only tried a vejp once. So, contrary to what the researchers say, the risk is reduced for those who have ever used an e-cigarette. More tests lead to more positive diagnoses, but in this case, the outcome actually shows that e-cigarettes are not associated with a higher risk of Covid-19," writes Peter Hajek at Science Media Center.
