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Biosecurity BriefingStudy Shows Why Cigarette Smoke Worsens Flu and Other Viral InfectionsBy Brooke Courtney, August 8, 2008 According to a July 25, 2008, ScienceDaily report,1 a new study2 by Yale University School of Medicine researchers “could explain why the cold and flu virus symptoms that are often mild and transient in non-smokers can seriously sicken smokers.”1 The findings of the research, which “identified the mechanism by which viruses and cigarette smoke interact to increase lung inflammation and damage” using mice, “suggest that smokers do not get in trouble because they can’t clear or fight off the virus; they get in trouble because [their systems] overreact to it.”1 Cigarette smokers have been more likely than non-smokers to die during influenza epidemics, and smokers are more prone to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, until recently, it was unclear why those who smoke have exaggerated responses to viral infections. The Yale study found that immune responses in mice exposed to cigarette smoke “were not only defective, but were hyperactive.” This observation opposes the prevailing view that cigarette smoke decreases immune response. When exposed to cigarette smoke from as little as two cigarettes a day for two weeks, the immune systems of the mice overreacted when challenged by a flu-like virus. Although the mice’s immune systems cleared the virus normally, “the exaggerated inflammation caused increased levels of tissue damage.”1 According to lead author of the Yale study, Jack Elias, MD, “If the exaggerated responses are verified in human studies, it will be the first explanation for why viral infections are more serious in smokers. Once verified, we can find ways to prevent the destruction of lung tissue and the higher illness and death among smokers.”1 References
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