Alcohol sales saw a 55% increase in late March, and many of us are understandably reaching for a glass of wine right now, but here’s what you need to know about how drinking might affect your risk level for coronavirus
Photo: Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images Everyone knows someone who, early on in the coronavirus crisis, posted to Facebook or Instagram a grainy text screenshot claiming that drinking strong alcohol kills the virus in our stomachs, just as using hand sanitizer with high alcohol content kills it on our skin. As the World Health Organization was quick to point out, this is not true.
What experts do know is how alcohol overuse impacts the immune system more broadly, and from that, what might be reasonable to assume about alcohol overuse and the coronavirus — which, though new, is not entirely unlike other respiratory infections that have been well researched.Critically, there’s a difference between alcohol use and alcohol misuse — though the line between them can be somewhat nebulous.
“With a respiratory infection in people who’ve been drinking for decades, they’re more likely to need mechanical ventilation,” says Jung. “They’re more likely to spend more time in the ICU, and they’re more likely to die.”This is tricky for a number of reasons, one being that people vastly underestimate how much they drink. “To minimize potential risks, the U.S.
While it may not constitute “binge drinking” to consume two drinks a night, that amount does increase our risk of getting sick, says Poland. “I think people who are having more than a glass of wine are actually increasing their risk of severe disease,” he says. “I think in a way we can’t exactly quantify it until it gets to be too much.”Beyond the effects alcohol has on our health, it’s also important to consider how it might impact our behavior.
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