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COVID Is Prompting Youthful Vapers to Quit

06Jun
Green KeyHealthcare

COVID-19 has had at least one positive effect on health: Vaping, the use of e-cigarettes, among teens and young adults has decreased markedly since the beginning of the pandemic.

A survey reported Dec. 3 on the JAMA Network Open says almost a third — 32.8% — of young adult users 13-24 that changed their e-cigarette use since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic quit vaping. Another 35.3% reduced their use of e-cigarettes. Not all e-cigarette users changed their smoking habit, but 56.4% of the survey participants did.

One of the two researchers, Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, a developmental psychologist and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, told HealthDay, “One of the main reasons they quit is that they were worried about lung health, and we think that’s important, that they thought they could hurt their lungs.”

Vaping already was on the decline according to a CDC and FDA survey conducted just before the COVID shutdown in March. The report published in September found 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students were vaping in early 2020, compared with 28% of high school students and 11% of middle school students in 2019.

The just published survey said who quit or decreased their use out of concern for their health accounted for 25% of the total. Because they were at home and their parents would know caused 15.2% to quit or cut back. Another 19.5% said it was because they couldn’t get the products. Almost a third (32.1%) said a combination of those factors were responsible.

There’s good reason for youthful vapers to quit. Research has revealed that 13-24 year-old cigarette and e-cigarette users were much more likely than non-smokers to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Dual-users who vaped and smoked cigarettes were 7 times more likely to get a COVID diagnosis. Those who vaped only were 5 times more likely.

The newest survey also found those adhering to the stay-at-home orders were 1.5 times more likely to have reduced or quit e-cigarettes, a consequence of access being limited, a lack of socializing with other users or worries about parents or a combination.

“In this study, sheltering-in-place policies that may have limited access to retail store purchases may have helped facilitate quitting or reduced use among both underage youth and young adults,” the researchers noted.

However, they also found that “that vape shops and online platforms are routinely selling to underage youth during this pandemic.”

Photo by Chiara Summer on Unsplash

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While the US has so far seen few cases of the coronavirus, employers need to plan should the situation change, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent briefing.

“Now is the time for businesses, hospitals, community schools, and everyday people to begin preparing,” said CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes. Employers should “begin to respond in a flexible way to differing levels of severity, to refine their business response plans as needed.”

Among the suggestions, the CDC urged businesses to “replace in-person meetings with video or telephone conferences and increase teleworking options.”

Officially designated COVID-19, the virus has killed almost 3,000 people, mostly in China, and has been detected in several dozen countries. In the US there has been one death among the 60 confirmed cases (as of late last week). Most of those were among passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and those repatriated from China.

Last week the California Department of Public Health reported the first case of person-to-person transmission in which the infected person had not traveled abroad or was known to have been in contact with an infected person. Since then at least one additional case of unknown origin has been discovered.

It’s important, however, to put the situation into perspective. According to the CDC, since October, at least 32,000,000 Americans have come down with the common flu, killing 18,000. Flu has a fatality rate of less than 0.1%.

The coronavirus has a higher death rate, now estimated to be 1.4%, but that’s down from initial reports putting it at 2%. Even that may overstating the rate, infectious disease experts say.

What’s different is that the coronavirus appears to be more contagious, plus so much less is known about how and when infected persons can transmit it to others. The CDC warned of the uncertainty in its briefing Feb. 26. “During an outbreak with a new virus, there is a lot of uncertainty. Our guidance and advice are likely to be fluid, subject to change as we learn more.”

Companies in Europe have sent thousands of workers home and a British TV company has begun screening visitors at some of its European offices, barring those who recently visited countries where the virus has gained a foothold.

Few companies in the US have yet taken such extreme measures, though so many companies pulled out of the annual Games Developer Conference in San Francisco later this month that it was cancelled.

Should the virus spread – and the CDC said to expect it will — businesses could be ordered to close. Travel restrictions likely would be imposed.

“We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare with the expectation that this could be bad,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the CDC told reporters.

Joseph Deng, an attorney with Baker McKenzie in Los Angeles,told the Society for Human Resource Management employers should appoint a team to deal with the possibility the virus will disrupt operations. He recommends including HR, legal and IT.

If the company already has a disaster preparedness plan, the team should use that as a starting point, Deng said. Many disaster plans assume a short term event. With a pandemic, the impact is likely to be much longer, as we’ve seen in China. Thus it is essential employers plan both for the short and long term.

Attorney Mark J. Neuberger with Foley and Lardner has a list of specific steps businesses should already be taking. Besides banning travel to virus hotspots, he recommends appointing someone to check the CDC website daily for the latest news on the virus’ spread.

As important as developing or updating a response plan is communicating it to employees. Reassure them the company is taking appropriate precautions and have managers explain the plan and how it will work.

This is also a good opportunity to remind workers of basic sanitary practices including thoroughly washing hands and avoiding close contact. More specific details are available on the OSHA website.

Photo by Anton on Unsplash

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In a survey reported by Healthcare Dive, healthcare executives express fewer concerns about a possible surge in patients when the usual flu season begins this fall than they do about staffing and employee burnout.

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The cancellation of elective procedures and the dramatic reduction in other visits cost hospitals and health systems $200.6 billion, according to the American Hospital Association. That has to at least partially factor into the thinking of the 62% of survey respondents who don’t think a similar response would be appropriate again given what is now known about the virus.

Their worries about patient volumes is well-founded, said Dion Sheidy, a partner and healthcare advisory leader at KPMG.

“While we think demand will come back, we’ve seen some flattening on demand in certain aspects that may be the new indicator of the new norm in terms of how people seek care,” Sheidy said.

The rise of telehealth visits is part of that new norm, embraced by a large majority of the 100 healthcare system executives in the survey. As medical offices and many walk-in clinics closed, Medicare and health insurance providers relaxed policies and expanded their coverage of virtual doctor visits. Telehealth visits surged. Many providers saw a doubling, tripling and more of their pre-shutdown business.

The survey respondents support the regulatory loosening. In the survey, 84% support the ability to offer telehealth services to patients located in their homes and outside of designated rural areas. Previously, many insurers only reimbursed telehealth costs for patients who lived far from a doctor or medical facility.

Almost as many executives (79%) support expanding the services that may be provided by telehealth. Smaller, but still substantial percentages favor expanding the type of practitioners allowed to provide virtual care and provide insurance coverage for devices such as computers and cell phones for telehealth.

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