Vaping increases the risk of transmitting COVID-19 by just one percent, a new study has found.
The study compared the risks of COVID-19 transmission through regular breathing, speaking, whispering, singing and vaping.
The exposure of transmission from an infectious mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaper increased the risk by 1 percent.
Meanwhile, direct-to-lung (DTL) vaping increased the risk by 5-17 percent.
However, this was well below the risk presented by the other measured activities.
The researchers found that 6 minutes per hour of speaking increased the transmission risk by 44 percent while coughing increased the risk by more than 260 percent.
Roberto Sussman of the National Autonomous University of Mexico wrote:
“Vaping is an intermittent respiratory activity whose characteristic velocities, droplet diameters and emission rates are comparable to those of breathing and lesser than those of speaking, coughing or sneezing.
“This implies that in a shared indoor space, vaping only adds a minuscule extra contagion risk to risks already existent from rest breathing and other respiratory activities.”
While the researchers stress that there is a small risk for COVID-19 to be transmitted from indoor vaping, they said that it should be considered in relation to the risk posed by the other activities studied.
They also argued that vaping in the home or in social settings ‘does not require special extra interventions besides those already recommended for the general population: social distance and wearing face masks.’
The researchers said:
“Vapers should be advised to be alert to the worries and fears of non-vapers when sharing indoor spaces or dwellings or when close to other citizens, and for safety measures to use low-powered devices for low intensity vaping.
“Vapers, however, deserve the same sensitivity, courtesy, and tolerance”
Read more: New Zealand Effectively Bans Vaping Where Smoking is Not Allowed
Story Source: News Medical Life Sciences
