Smokers and vegetarians at lesser risk of COVID-19 infection: CSIR

NEW DELHI: As stated by a pan-India serosurvey conducted by Centre of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), smokers and vegetarians are at a lower risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection. The survey done by CSIR on its 40 institutes also found that people with blood group ‘O’ may be at lesser risk of infection while those with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ are at a higher risk.

CSIR took samples of 10,427 adults working in the laboratories or institutions of CSIR along with their family members based on voluntary participation. The study was done to examine the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV2 in people. It was piloted by CSIR and Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi. The results said that among 10,427 people surveyed, 1,058 (10.14 per cent) were found to have SARS-CoV2 antibodies.

The study said that smokers are less likely to get infected is the first report from the general population and despite COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective. The paper cites two studies from France and also quotes similar studies from Italy, New York and China which reported lower infection rates among smokers.

Shantanu Sengupta, Senior Scientist, IGIB, said that this is the first time that a study is conducted in India where people have been examined for three months to six months for antibodies including those with neutralising activity. He added that researchers conducted normal antibody test and neutralizing antibody test to understand the formation and duration of antibodies.