Smoking and Influenza

If you are thinking about quitting smoking, today is the time to take the appropriate steps to quit.

• Some research studies show an increase in influenza infections among smokers compared to nonsmokers.
• There is a higher mortality rate for smokers than nonsmokers from influenza.

Additional respiratory health consequences

• Smoking is related to chronic coughing and wheezing among adults and children and chronic bronchitis and emphysema among adults.
• Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to have upper and lower respiratory tract infections, perhaps because smoking suppresses immune function.

Within 20 minutes after you smoke the last cigarette, your body begins a series of positive changes that will continue for years.

Smoking Cessation

• Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers. Quitting smoking has immediate, as well as long-term health benefits.
• Individual, group, or telephone counseling by trained health professionals increases the chances of successfully quitting. Nicotine replacement products and certain other medications also increase the chance that people can successfully quit.

To successfully quit smoking, you should take the following steps

• Get ready by setting a quit date.
• See your doctor, call a telephone quitline, or join a group program to learn new skills and behaviors to deal with situations when you want to smoke.
• Get support and encouragement from family and friends.
• Get medication and use it correctly.