But are e-cigarette users more vulnerable to the 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 young people have ever used an e-cigarette. But the study has been criticised.
The study, 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 could be a contributing factor to the increase in the number of young people aged 13-23 years old contracting the disease.
"The 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 who vejpar socialise in a more risky way. At the same time, the researchers suggest that e-cigarettes may have effects on the lungs and calls for more research to clarify the relationship.
History of smoking and coughing
But the study has been criticised 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 being diagnosed increases, of course, the more people in a given group who get tested. And since the majority of people who test e-cigarettes are smokers or ex-smokers, they have symptoms such as coughing and other things that lead them to test more often," says Mr Bishop. Peter Hajek Commenting 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 are more often affected by Covid-19 than those who have only ever tried a vejp. 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 results actually show that e-cigarettes cannot be linked to a higher risk of Covid-19," writes Peter Hajek at Science Media Centre.
