How smoking fuels dangerously infectious bacteria

Do you remember the days when cigarette smoke followed everyone (even non-smokers!) like a dark, cloud?

You’d sit in the “non-smoking” section of restaurants and billows of smoke would drift into your face as you took a bite of your tuna melt. You’d have to fight your way through thick screens of smoke as you tried to order a vodka tonic at a bar. You even had to sit for hours in a smoky, stuffy airplane cabin as you flew to visit your grandma in Akron, Ohio.

A lot has changed in the past few decades. We can now eat our tuna melts in peace. And we can meet friends at bars without throwing our entire outfit into the washing machine immediately after. But even though we’re exposed to way less secondhand smoke today than years ago, you can’t avoid it completely…

It still drifts into your car while you’re sitting in traffic. Sneaks into your open window while you’re doing dishes. Flies into your face as you’re walking your dog at the park. And of course, if any of your friends or family members still smoke, you inhale more than your fair share (no matter how far away they stand or how many spritzes of body mist they use to cover it up).

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Now, we all know cigarette smoke is bad for you… whether you’re the one smoking or the one caught in the aftermath. Asthma, ear infections, respiratory infections and, yes, even cancer are all on the table if you inhale enough cigarette smoke. But there’s another surprising side effect of cigarette smoke that affects you whether you’re a smoker or not…

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

It turns out cigarette smoke makes these dangerous pathogens even more resistant to antibiotics… and even more deadly.

Cigarette smoke fuels MRSA

A new study from researchers at the University of Bath shows that cigarette smoke makes antibiotic-resistant superbugs — like MRSA — more persistent and less treatable.

In the study, researchers exposed six strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to cigarette smoke. These strains were linked to a variety of health problems, like skin infections, pneumonia, and endocarditis (heart infections).

After exposing these MRSA strains to cigarette smoke, they noticed that certain strains (particularly the ones that cause invasive infections) became more persistent, more likely to spread and less responsive to the antibiotic rifampicin.

Related: How to make quitting smoking almost 6 times more successful

Why would cigarette smoke have such a dramatic effect on these dangerous bacteria?

Researchers think it’s because cigarette smoke triggers a stressor “SOS” response in MRSA bacteria that causes it to mutate at a rapid pace. As it evolves and mutates, it becomes more resistant to antibiotics.

“We expected some effects, but we didn’t anticipate smoke would affect drug resistance to this degree. We recognize that exposure in a lab is different to inhaled smoke over a long time, but it seems reasonable to hypothesize, based on our research and others’ that stressful conditions imposed by smoking induce responses in microbial cells leading to adaptation to harsh conditions, with the net effect of increasing virulence and/or potential for infection,” said lead study author Dr. Maisem Laabei.

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How you can help stop antibiotic-resistant superbugs

If you’re not a smoker, you may feel like there’s nothing you can do to solve this problem. (If you are a smoker, you know exactly what you can do… quit.) But here’s the thing…

Cigarette smoke may be speeding up antibiotic resistance. But it’s not the main cause. The misuse of antibiotics is. Smoker or not, you can educate yourself about the proper use of antibiotics and apply what you learn to your own life. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Wash your hands and keep yourself healthy. If you prevent bacterial infections, you eliminate the need for antibiotics in the first place, so use strategic hygiene and health practices.
• Never take antibiotics for viral infections like colds or cases of flu. Antibiotics don’t work for viral infections, but a lot of people ask for them when they have a cold or the flu anyway (and many doctors prescribe them!) Don’t be one of these people.
• Think twice before taking precautionary antibiotics. If your doctor prescribes antibiotics “just in case” when you don’t have a bacterial infection, you’ll want to ask whether it’s necessary to take them or if it’s okay to take a wait-and-see approach instead.
• Never take someone else’s antibiotics. If symptoms pop up and you think you know what’s causing them, it’s tempting to skip a trip to a doctor and take some old antibiotics you have laying around the house. Avoid doing this. You may have misdiagnosed yourself and could be taking antibiotics unnecessarily.

Sources:

1. Cigarette smoke makes MRSA superbug bacterium more drug-resistant — MedicalXpress
2. Cigarette smoke exposure redirects Staphylococcus aureus to a virulence profile associated with persistent infection — Scientific Reports
3. Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4. What causes antibiotic resistance? — Medical News Today
5. A Guide to Promote World Antibiotic Awareness Week — World Health Organization