more impacted by covid19 than was initially thought with patients under the age of 45 comprising more than a third of all cases and one in five of those patients requiring hospitalization along with nicotine patches and gum prescription medications can help curb cravings and fight addiction approximately one in four teens in the united states vapes or smokes ecigarettes with the fda declaring the teenage use of these products a nationwide epidemic and the cdc warning about a lifethreatening vaping illness called evali or ecigarette or vapingassociated lung injury stock photogetty images public health experts believe that conventional cigarette smokers are likely to have more serious illness if they become infected with covid19 according to the world health organization an undated stock photo show a person on a ventilator along with decreased mucociliary clearance which is how healthy lungs sweep away pathogens dr sadreameli said vaping can increase lung inflammation and may alter other pulmonary defense mechanisms such as by decreasing the functioning of cftr the protein that when defective causes cystic fibrosis dozens of studies have also shown damage at the cellular level stock photogetty images data is quickly mounting however and the results are sobering i would think that this virus is no different vaping may increase risk of serious covid19 columbia university pediatrician dr alok patel an abc news special correspondent points out that cases of evali provide very real evidence that vaping can cause direct lung damage which puts ecigarette users in the highrisk bracket of those most vulnerable to serious illness from covid19 although scientists still dont have good data to explain exactly why some young people are getting very sick from the novel coronavirus some experts are now saying that the popularity of ecigarettes and vaping could be making a bad situation even worse adolescent ecigarette users have been shown to have increased symptoms of chronic bronchitis the same symptoms of chronic cough and phlegm that are seen in elderly patients with copd that goes along with the decreased mucociliary clearance patel explained the most concerning thing from both a public health standpoint and as a pediatrician is that we dont yet know the longterm effects of vaping patel said