are former smokers at greater risk of pneumonia than never smokers
For pneumonia, former smokers had a 16 percent higher risk than never-smokers, but that compared to a 50 percent higher risk among current smokers.About 2 percent of current smokers developed pneumonia post-surgery, compared to 1 percent of nonsmokers.Almost 3 percent of current smokers ended up on a ventilator for more than 48 hours post-surgery, compared to 2.8 percent of former smokers and 1.8 percent of never-smokers.lthough current smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to die post-surgery, the former smokers who had quit at least a year before had no increased risk of death compared to the never-smokers.