Does cigarette or E-cigarette use increase the risk for SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion among Midwestern college students?

Abstract

Objective

This longitudinal study tested the relationship between cigarette and e-cigarette use and SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion among US college students.

Participants

Undergraduate students (n = 764), drawn from a randomly selected invitation-only pool from a large Midwestern university, that were initially negative for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and were re-tested in November were included in this study conducted in Fall 2020.

Methods

Demographics and cigarette and e-cigarette use behaviors (nicotine use) were collected in a baseline survey. SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests were administered in September (baseline) and November (endline) of 2020. Log-binomial regression analyses were conducted to test the association between nicotine use and SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.

Results

SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion was 5.2%. No statistically significant associations were found between nicotine use and SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.

Conclusions

Contrary to prior results, we found no association between nicotine use and SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion. Nicotine use may not be a key risk factor for COVID-19 acquisition in predominantly healthy college-aged populations.

Keywords:

• Nicotine use
• SARS-CoV-2
• seroconversion
• smoking
• vaping

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Indiana University Bloomington.

Funding

Study was funded by a private donation to the Indiana University Foundation.