Researchers searched five databases, from when they were started to 2017, to identify control trials, cohort and case-control studies defining flu as a clinical syndrome and those using confirmatory tests. They searched the Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Lilacs and Web of Science databases, some of which were started in the 1800s.
They found that current smokers were over five times as likely to develop laboratory-confirmed flu than nonsmokers.
Among studies reporting the occurrence of a flu-like illness, current smokers were 34 percent more likely to develop a flu-like illness than nonsmokers.
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