The number of people with vaping-related lung injuries has soared to 805, up from 530 reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week. The number of deaths also increased from seven to 12.
Thirty-eight percent of patients with lung injury associated with e-cigarette use are 21 years or younger, and 16% are under 18, according to the CDC.
Illnesses have been reported in 46 states and one territory. The deaths have occurred in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri and Oregon.
Patients have complained of difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and/or chest pain. Some also experienced diarrhea, vomiting, fever and fatigue, according to the CDC. In most of the cases, patients had used e-cigarettes with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
As of Sept. 26, 370 samples had been tested from 16 states. Of the 145 vaping liquid products that have completed testing, 65% of the products contained THC (14%-76% concentration), and 55% of the THC-containing products also contained vitamin E acetate (31%-88% concentration).
The CDC still is unsure of the specific cause of the lung injuries.
The CDC recommends people consider not using vaping products while the investigation continues. Those who do use them should not purchase products off the street.
Youths, young adults and pregnant women should never use e-cigarettes. In addition to containing toxic chemicals, they are addictive and harmful to developing brains. Recent data show that about 25% of 12th graders reported recent vaping, more than double the rate in 2017.
The CDC encourages clinicians to consider vaping-related illnesses in patients with lung disease, collect detailed information on the products patients were using and report suspected cases to their state health department. Detailed guidance from the CDC is available at https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00421.asp. Federal officials are accepting biological specimens collected from cases and are updating the shipping procedures. For information about the collection of e-cigarette products for possible testing by the Food and Drug Administration, email [email protected].
The CDC also encourages the public to report any unexpected tobacco or e-cigarette-related health or product issues to the FDA’s online Safety Reporting Portal, http://www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov.
