Effect of Cigarette Smoking on Bacterial Infections: A Review Study

In spite of great advances in the prevention of bacterial infections, they are still considered the most common reason for mortality worldwide. In accordance with the data from the World Health Organization (WHO), around 15% of pediatric mortality was caused by bacterial infections in 2017. Since cigarette smoke can cause serious damage to organs such as the respiratory system and weakening of the immune system, the aim of the present review study was to investigate the effects of cigarette smoking on various bacterial pneumonia.

The present review study was performed on 90 articles obtained through searching in ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar using keywords such as bacterial pneumonia, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Haemophilus, Pseudomonas, Legionella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, tuberculosis, and cigarette.

Different results of previous studies indicated that given the detrimental effect of cigarettes on the respiratory and immune system of individuals, cigarette smoking affects the prognosis and outcome of infectious diseases. Disease severity, requiring hospitalization at both general and intensive care units, and mortality rate vary across these patients, thereby challenging the treatment. Thus, the cessation of cigarette smoking may help improve the respiratory system function.

Given contradictions in the results of previous studies, exposure to cigarette smoke affects the respiratory system and increases the severity of bacterial pneumonia.