This Dec. 17, 2019 photo shows a group of cigarettes in New York. About 14% of U.S adults were cigarette smokers last year, for the third year in a row. Meanwhile, the adult vaping rate still appears to be rising, according to a new government report. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
By Mike Strobbe
The U.S. decline in cigarette smoking could be stalling while the adult vaping rate appears to be rising, according to a government report released Thursday.
About 14% of U.S adults were cigarette smokers last year, the third year in a row the annual survey found that rate. But health officials said a change in the methodology make it hard to compare that to the same 14% reported for 2017 and 2018.
The adult smoking rate last saw a substantial drop in 2017, when it fell from 16% the year before.
The new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mean there are more than 34 million adult smokers in the U.S.
Meanwhile, about 4.5% of adults were counted as current e-cigarette users last year — about 11 million people.
That rate appears to be up from 3.2% in 2018 and 2.8% in 2017. But again, officials said that comparing 2019 with earlier years is difficult because of the survey change.
The CDC figures are based on responses from about 32,000 people.
Health officials have long called tobacco use the nation's leading cause of preventable disease and death.
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Experts say that at some point next year, the pandemic will officially drop its pandemic status, becoming endemic. While this is a milestone to acknowledge, it does not mean we're free of infections, illnesses, and deaths. Dr. Rajeev Fernando, infectious disease specialist, Beth Israel Hospital and fellow, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chicago-based Internist Dr. Vivek Cherian joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the unprecedented surge in U.S. COVID-19 as many prepare to celebrate the new year.
Dr. Soumi Eachempati, co-founder and CEO of Cleared4 and former professor of surgery and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, joined Cheddar to breakdown what people should know about the recently FDA-approved emergency use of Merck and Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment pills. He noted that not only do people need to be aware of other medications they are taking that could cause adverse effects if coupled with COVID-19 pill treatments, he also talked about the intense in-take regiment. "The Merck pills are actually about 40 pills over five days. The Pfizer ones are three pills over five days, so people have to be prepared for that because it is a lot of pills you'll have to take to get full value from these drugs," Eachempati told Cheddar.
Twitter is exploding with a new meme after the CDC revised its Covid-19 guidelines, shortening the recommended isolation period to five days instead of 10 for when you test positive and are asymptomatic. The change came amid a skyrocketing surge of new cases is the U.S. due to the Omicron variant, drawing criticism from experts and Twitter --with users claiming the government agency is giving funny advise on a variety of issues. But what does the meme say about the public’s trust in the agency? Cheddar News speaks with political strategist Hastie Afkhami.
The list of questions should be getting shorter as we enter the pandemic's third year, but that isn't the case. There's another question to add to that list: is the U.S. doing enough to track the virus and its variants? Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for national and global health law at Georgetown University, joins Cheddar News.
As we prepare to ring in the new year, COVID cases are hitting an all-time high. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the safest way to celebrate would be a small gathering with vaccinated family members only... far from the large, flashy parties from a few years ago. Dr. Christina Johns, senior medical advisor at PM Pediatrics, joins Cheddar News to discuss how to celebrate safely.
