Open AccessSmoking and epidemic influenza-like illness in female military recruits: a brief survey.
Author(s) -
Jeremy D. Kark,
M Lebiush
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.71.5.530
Subject(s) - medicine , outbreak , disease , population , epidemiology , demography , influenza like illness , environmental health , virology , virus , sociology
An outbreak of influenza-like disease caused illness among 48 per cent of 173 female military recruits, 35 per cent of whom smoked cigarettes. The risk of influenza-like illness was greater in smokers (60.0 per cent) than in nonsmokers (41.6 per cent), with a risk ratio of 1.44 (95 per cent CL 1.03-2.01). Among those ill, a significantly greater proportion of smokers visited the clinic than nonsmokers. This could have been due to more severe illness among smokers, or to a greater tendency to visit the physician. The proportion of influenza-like disease attributable to smoking in this population was 13 per cent.