A patient who had recently been vaping has died in the US after developing severe lung disease, officials said on Friday, as authorities scrambled to find the cause behind almost 200 more potential cases.
“Yesterday we received a report of the death of an adult who had been hospitalized with severe unexplained respiratory illness after reported vaping,” Illinois Department of Public Health Chief Medical Office Jennifer Layden said.
She declined to provide the person’s gender, but said that the ages of the patients treated in the state had been between 17 and 38.
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As of Friday, there were 193 cases in 22 states of potential cases of severe lung illness associated with e-cigarette use since the end of June, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures showed.
The cause has not been determined, but all had recently used e-cigarettes to inhale either vaporized nicotine or cannabis, and many of the products have been sent for lab testing.
“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,” department Director Ngozi Ezike said.
Although the cases appeared similar, “it is unclear if these cases have a common cause or if they are different diseases with similar presentations,” CDC Acting Deputy Director on Non-infectious Diseases Ileana Arias said.
E-cigarette users do not get exposed to the estimated 7,000 chemical constituents present in combustible cigarettes, and vaping is generally believed to be safer than smoking.
However, the liquids do contain nicotine and a variety of other constituents classed as “potentially harmful” according to a study compiled last year by the US National Academy of Sciences.
The report identified “substantial evidence” that the vapor contains traces of metals, either from the coil used to heat the liquid or other parts of the device.
Another potential red flag is the presence of diacetyl, which is used to add a butter flavoring, but has been linked to a serious, but relatively rare lung disease.
CDC Office on Smoking and Health Deputy Director Brian King said it was possible that such cases were only being registered now through heightened monitoring.
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