CIGARETTE SMOKING AND EPIDEMIC INFLUENZA

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology 1969-11, Vol.90 (5), p.390-399
• Main Authors: FINKLEA, J. F., SANDIFER, S. H., SMITH, D. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; disease outbreak; Disease Outbreaks; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; Humans; influenza; Influenza, Human - epidemiology; Male; morbidity; Orthomyxoviridae - isolation & purification; Smoking; Vaccination; vaccine
• ISSN: 0002-9262; 1476-6256
• DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121084

Finklea, J. F. (ERB, DHER, NAPCA, 411 West Chapel Hill St., Durham, N. C. 27701), S. H. Sandifer and D. D. Smith. Cigarette smoking and epidemic influenza. Amer. J. Epid., 90: 390–399.—The effect of cigarette smoking upon epidemic influenza was studied prospectively among 1, 811 male college students. A severe epidemic in late 1968 was identified by virus isolation from throat washings and by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) testing of paired sera from patients as A2/ Hong Kong/68 influenza. Questionnaires revealed that clinical influenza incidence among those who daily smoked 21 or more cigarettes was 21% higher than that of non-smokers. Illness among ex-cigarette smokers, pipe and cigar smokers was only slightly greater than non-smokers while influenza incidence among smokers of 1 to 20 cigarettes daily was intermediate between non-smokers and heavy cigarette smokers. Neither the length of illness nor the ratio of those sick with influenza to those sick-in-bed with influenza significantly differed over smoking categories. Pre and post-epidemic serum HI antibody assays suggested that a post-epidemic titer of ≥1:40 was diagnostic of infection with A2/Hong Kong/68 during the epidemic. Diagnostic post-epidemic HI antibody titers among those who were clinically ill were equally common in all smoking categories but diagnostic HI titers among those who remained clinically well were significantly more common among cigarette smokers suggesting more frequent subclinical illness.