| The Tobacco Reference Guide |
| by David Moyer, MD. |
| Chapter 11 Other health problems |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour |
| Other health problems: Influenza, Snoring, and Infections |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
| Smoking increases vulnerability to influenza. In one outbreak of influenza among 336 |
| men in a military unit, 68.5 percent of current and occasional smokers suffered |
| influenza, as compared with 47.2 percent of never and former smokers. Overall, |
| smoking is thought to play a significant role in 31 percent of all influenza cases and 41 |
| percent of severe cases. Vaccinationagainst influenza is less effective in smokers, |
| and the death rate among smokers who suffer influenza is much higher than among |
| nonsmokers. |
| Cigarettes, p. 10 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to develop pneumococcal |
| (caused by the bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae) sepsis or meningitis. |
| Nonsmokers exposed to passive smoke on a frequent basis had a 2.5-fold increased |
| risk, and heavy smokers (at least 25 cigarettes a day) had a 5.5-fold increased risk. |
| San Francisco Chronicle, March 9, 2000 (from the NEJM, same date) |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| One alteration in the immune system of babies with passive smoke exposure is a |
| significant reduction in natural killer-cell activity. The clinical significance of this |
| alteration is not known, but could be involved in the increased incidence of lower |
| respiratory tract viral infection and childhood cancer observed in infants exposed to |
| passive smoke. |
| Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, January 1999, p. 172, And |
| Respiratory Reviews, April 1999 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Smokers have an increased risk of acquiring epidemic influenza, a decreased |
| immune response to influenza vaccination, a decreased response to hepatitis B |
| vaccine, and an apparent increased risk of varicella pneumonia. |
| Cigarettes, p. 160, and Clinics in Chest Medicine, December 1991, p. 649 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Page 15 of 32 |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
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