Vaping could make it harder for your body to fight the flu, preliminary study finds

Anyone who smokes regularly knows that colds and flu can hit them harder than a non-smoker. However, according to some new (and very preliminary) research published today, vape people could have the same kind of problems. This suggests that e-cigarettes may weaken the body's ability to resist the influenza virus, although this may be different from that of cigarette smoke.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a trial of three groups of volunteers: self-declared nonsmokers, regular smokers, and regular consumers of electronic cigarettes. All three groups were exposed to a weakened form of the influenza virus – the same type of virus used in the nasal spray flu vaccine. In this weakened form, the virus can not cause the flu, but the body's immune system still responds to it as a typical viral invader. Before and after the dose of the virus, volunteers had their throats and noses soaked, and a blood sample was taken from each.

As might be expected, the immune system of smokers was harder to control than that of non-smokers. In smokers, higher levels of viral messenger RNA were detected, indicating that the virus was able to replicate more. However, this change was not observed among users of electronic cigarettes, but the others were compared to smokers or non-smokers.

In these users, the genes and proteins involved in the innate immune system – the immediate front-line defense against infection – and the antiviral response in general, have been removed. Another response to influenza, the production of IgA antibodies specifically adapted to influenza, was also weakened in people who used electronic cigarettes. According to the authors, these differences may also have slowed down the body's long-term response to the virus, called adaptive immunity (part of the immune system that "remembers" viruses and bacteria it has encountered before).

"Together, these data suggest that the use of e-cigarettes and cigarette consumption differentially alter the host's antiviral respiratory defense system," the authors wrote.

There are some big caveats to these results. The main one is that researchers have not yet published their work in a peer-reviewed journal; instead, they are preparing for their study at the American Thoracic Society's annual conference this week. This does not mean that the study is hogwash (or that the peer-reviewed studies are still completely credible). It simply means that we must deal with his conclusions with greater caution.

That said, other research has suggested a link between a weaker immune system and the use of the electronic cigarette, including a study last year showing that vaping can directly sabotage some immune calls. and increase inflammation of lung tissue, at least in the laboratory.

The question that arises, as in many studies of vaping, is whether the implicit effects of vaping on the body represent significant harm. Organizations such as Public Health England have concluded that e-cigarettes, while not entirely harmless, are nonetheless far less toxic than traditional tobacco cigarettes and can help smokers quit. Therefore, even though vaping may somewhat weaken your immune system during the flu season, it remains to be seen whether its effects are negligible and / or as serious as smoking.

On the other hand, some public health experts have argued that there is still a lot of research to be done before we can be sure of everything about e-cigarettes and their potential health risks, especially in the long run. term. They (and the FDA) also pointed out that the dramatic rise in teenage vaping was certainly not a good thing (and could even create new smokers).

So yes, to follow. Gizmodo asked the authors of the study so that we could comment on them. We will update this article to the news.