Illinois patient's death may be first in US tied to vaping

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Illinois patient’s death may be first in US tied to vaping

By DON BABWIN and MIKE STOBBE
August 23, 2019

CHICAGO (AP) — Health officials said Friday that an Illinois patient who contracted a serious lung disease after vaping has died and that they consider it the first death in the United States linked to the smoking alternative that has become popular with teens and young adults.

The Illinois Department of Public Health the adult patient was hospitalized after falling ill following vaping, though it didn’t give other information about the person, including the patient’s name, age, hometown or date of death.

The state received the report of the death Thursday, said Dr. Jennifer Layden, the Illinois agency’s chief medical officer.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 193 people in 22 states have contracted severe respiratory illnesses after vaping. However, they said a clear-cut common cause of the illnesses hasn’t been identified and that they are being called “potential cases” that are still under investigation.

All of the sickened have been teens or adults who had used an electronic cigarette or some other kind of vaping device. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far, infectious diseases have been ruled out.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/b05de1dd26a54ae88de4d77eb7b41e6f

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. That was something I had been concerned about.

Be interesting to know if it's a heat problem. If it is something in the actual substances smoked, that would more difficult to track down, given all the variables in the substances, both tobacco and cannabis.
Not to mention frequency and pattern of use.

[virgogal]

2. Frightening,and yet I see the ads all the time.

The ads should be stopped.

[Thekaspervote]

3. Besides the tubes exploding the flavor additives are terrible

It’s called popcorn lung

https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2016/07/popcorn-lung-risk-ecigs.html

[abqtommy]

4. Thanks for the link, that's very helpful. I recently got a Juul vaper and have decided

that I won't inhale any of their products. They do list the contents of their pods so that can be looked into, but I find that I can't even take some of their vapor to only hold in my mouth. (I have no problem inhaling tobacco smoke) Anyway, my approach is cutting down on my tobacco use and my related shortness of breath.

[emmaverybo]

5. Certainly could be a malfunction with the device or contaminated e-liquids, but people have been

using these devices for over a decade. Some of the first were manufactured in China and you actually could smell the burning if you didn’t change the cartridge soon enough or because the device was overheating.

And yet, never before, and so far only among young people, has there been this tragic result. Thousands modify devices, even create their own. That too has been going on for years.

Edit: age range in those seriously affected goes up to 38, so...parents of younger patients said they had been vaping tobacco, marijuana, and home made “concoctions.”

Clove cigarettes, which were mistakenly thought safe, did lead to some cases of popcorn lung. I wonder if some liquids have a similar substance in them. Since the devices and liquids are not regulated, we can’t know.

I am not endorsing vaping. Especially not for youth and not for any non-smoker or smoker able to
quit with medically safe alternatives or cold turkey. For adult smokers who can’t quit, as a last resort, e-cigarettes may have less ill effects than regular cigarettes. They have not been in use long enough, studied credibly and long enough to know.

[Metatask]

6. Word is

They were using homemade vapes with thc sold over the internet and they smoked pesticides.


Dank Vapes Is the "Biggest Conspiracy" in Pot That Can Put You in a Coma

https://www.inverse.com/article/58581-dank-vapes