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Health

Illinois patient may be the first to die from vaping

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Photo by Lindsay Fox from Newport beach, United States - Vaping / Vape Cloud, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47758077

Illinois may have recorded the first death connected to vaping.

In a statement released today, Aug. 23, the Illinois Department of Public Health stated it learned of the death of an individual who had recently vaped and was hospitalized with severe respiratory illness. It also said that the number of cases of people reported to IDPH who have used e-cigarettes or vaped and have been hospitalized with respiratory symptoms has doubled in the past week. Cases have been reported in Chicago and numerous Illinois counties.

A total of 22 people, ranging in age from 17-38 years, have experienced respiratory illness after using e-cigarettes or vaping. IDPH is also working with local health departments to investigate another 12 individuals. Affected individuals have experienced respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Some also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms worsened over a period of days or weeks before admission to the hospital.

“The severity of illness people are experiencing is alarming, and we must get the word out that using e-cigarettes and vaping can be dangerous,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in the statement. “We requested a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help us investigate these cases and they arrived in Illinois on Tuesday.”

IDPH is also working with local health departments, other state health departments, and the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the names and types of e-cigarettes, vaping products, and devices, as well as where they were obtained.

According to the CDC, in many cases, including Illinois, patients have acknowledged to health-care personnel recent use of THC-containing products. THC is found in marijuana and is the ingredient that gets users high. No specific product has been identified in all cases, nor has any product been conclusively linked to illnesses, the CDC said. Even though cases appear similar, it is not clear if these cases have a common cause or if they are different diseases with similar symptoms.

Since 2014, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. middle and high school students, the CDC says. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, the number of youth who used e-cigarettes went up by 1.5 million. In fact, the US Surgeon General has called e-cigarette use by youth an “epidemic,” and warned that it threatens decades of progress toward making sure fewer young people use tobacco.

In a Wednesday statement, the CDC said that more than 149 possible cases of severe lung illness associated with e-cigarette product use were reported by 15 states (CA, CT, IL, IN, IA, MN, MI, NC, NJ, NM, NY, PA, TX, UT, and WI) from June 28, 2019, to August 20, 2019. Prior to the Illinois case, no deaths had been reported.

CDC and states have not identified a cause, but all reported cases have e-cigarette product use or “vaping.” Available evidence does not suggest that an infectious disease is the principal cause of the illness.

People who experience any type of chest pain or difficulty breathing after using e-cigarettes or vaping in the weeks or months prior to the symptoms described above should seek immediate medical attention. Health care providers caring for patients with unexpected serious respiratory illness should ask about a history of vaping or e-cigarette use.

 

 

 

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