Influence of Cigarettes and Alcohol on the Severity and Death of COVID-19: A Multicenter Retrospective Study in Wuhan, China

Mengyuan Dai; Liyuan Tao; Zhen Chen; Zhi Tian; Xiaofang Guo; Diane S Allen-Gipson; Ruirong Tan; Rui Li; Li Chai; Fen Ai; Miao Liu

doi:10.3389/fphys.2020.588553

Influence of Cigarettes and Alcohol on the Severity and Death of COVID-19: A Multicenter Retrospective Study in Wuhan, China

Front Physiol. 2020 Dec 9:11:588553. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.588553. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mengyuan Dai^{1

2

3}, Liyuan Tao⁴, Zhen Chen⁵, Zhi Tian⁶, Xiaofang Guo⁷, Diane S Allen-Gipson^{6

8}, Ruirong Tan⁹, Rui Li^{9

10}, Li Chai¹¹, Fen Ai⁵, Miao Liu¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
² Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Biological Behaviors, Wuhan, China.
³ Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Emergency, The Central Hospital of Wuhan Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁶ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
⁸ Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
⁹ Department of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
¹⁰ Department of Radiation Oncology, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
¹¹ Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; alcohol; cigarette; death; severity.