Anyone read anything reasonable about the effects of smoking and SARS? Usually people who smoke get respitory ailments more severely than nonsmokers. But since it looks as though SARS kills those that it kills by way of immune system overreaction, how does smoking fit in? Any ideas? The above idea doesn't sound reasonable. Since nicotine is a poison, and smokers usually get worse bronchitis and other lung diseases, why would it be a SARS preventive?
It doesn't.
Rumors are rampant in China and Hong Kong about how smoking can prevent/cure SARS. The rumors have become so widespread that the top doctors in each area have gone out of their way to debunk the rumor. The Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore also went out of his way to debunk the rumor.
The idea that putting something poisonous in your lungs will kill the bad things in there has been around a long time. Remember, back in the days of Sir Walter Raleigh (you know, sailing ships, Queen Elisabeth, etc.), smoking was thought to prevent/cure lung disease.