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The Tobacco Reference Guide
by David Moyer, MD.


Chapter 11 Other health problems

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Other health problems: Influenza, Snoring, and Infections

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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