Title : Positive correlation between heavy alcoholic drinking and SARS-Cov-2 not-infection rate
Abstract:
Introduction. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, rumours claimed that alcohol drinking could someway be useful in contrasting the contagion and even the disease. It appears opportune to bring some robust data to determine whether heavy alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers experienced different infection rates.
Methods. A cross-sectional study through a simple survey based on the social media software Weixin and the mini survey program Wenjuanxin was carried out in China, after the zero-Covid policy ended, namely from 15:00 Jan.1, 2023, to 12:35 Jan.3, 2023. The evaluation was conducted among subjects belonging to the first author’s Weixin community, most residents in the higher populated China area. Study participants received a questionary and asked about their virus infection status, and classified it into two groups: (a) infected, meaning he/she has been infected at least once (whether recovered or not); (b) remain uninfected, meaning the virus has not infected him/her. A total of 211 subjects adhered to the survey. Alcoholic drinking behaviour about liquors with no less than 40% alcohol content in volume was retrieved from the participants. In China, such beverages are almost uniquely referred to as the Chinese Spirits or BaiJiu. The drinking behaviour was quantified by the frequency of drinking and it is classified into three groups: never drink or drink occasionally (Group A); drink one or two times per week (Group B); drink three times per week or more often (Group C).
The hypothesis of an existing relationship between infection status and drinking behaviour was advanced before data collection. The numbers of the uninfected people in each of the three drinking groups were counted and the rates of not-infection were calculated. The rates are compared with each other to conclude whether significant differences exist, considering the size of the samples. The conclusion is drawn from standard hypothesis testing.
Results. The male/female ratio was 108/103 (51.2% and 48.8%), mean age of 38.8 yrs (range 21-68), and median age of 37.4 yrs. We found that 158 (79.4) were infected and 53 (25.1%) were still uninfected at the time of the survey, respectively. The distribution of the three groups with different drinking frequencies was: 139 (65.9%) in Group A, 28 (13.3%) in Group B, and 44 (20.8) in Group C. The statistical analysis through the Cochran-Armitage trend test gave a significative result: P = 0.0209.
Conclusions. Within the methodology's limitations, this study shows the significant relationship between alcohol drinking habits and chances to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection. A possible hypothesis explaining these findings is advanced. However, the Authors warn about misleading conclusions and advocate research that could properly guide ethanol use in the present and other possible pandemics.
