Hookah smokers are being warned that the activity can lead to greater risk of COVID-19 infection.
Smoking hookah, also known as hubbly bubbly, shisha, or waterpipe, can put users at greater risk of contracting bacterial and viral infections. As people typically share a hookah pipe, passing around the mouthpiece can spread germs to each smoker and thus increase the infection rate.
The moisture in tobacco and the cold water inside the hubbly chamber also help foster the survival of microorganisms inside the hose. This means that germs will live longer and are more likely to spread.
Garden Route District Municipality Executive Manager for Community Services, Clive Africa urges the public to take health precautions and avoid smoking hookah at all costs.
“Although we are all supposed to be in isolation, a hubbly bubbly is often still shared among a group of people. This is dangerous, because it can aid in transmitting diseases like hepatitis, herpes simplex (fever blisters), tuberculosis and also the COVID-19 disease, which is spread by droplets,” he says.
Not only is smoking hookah and cigarettes bad for your health, it can also harm those around you. Second-hand smoke can cause a number of health-related issues in infants and children. The belief that hookah is safer than cigarettes is in no way true. Hookah smokers actually inhale more toxins due to the frequency of puffing, depth of inhalation, and length of smoking.
Picture: Pixabay
