CDC investigating 215 cases of possible vaping-related illnesses
Health officials are investigating 215 severe lung disease cases that may be associated with e-cigarette use one week after the first vaping-related death in the U.S.
That's up from 193 possible cases last week. The illnesses have been reported in 25 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement Friday.
In many cases, patients reported having difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and/or chest pain before hospitalization, the joint statement released by CDC Director Robert Redfield and acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless noted. More information, however, is needed to understand if there is a direct correlation between vaping products or substances and the reported illnesses, the statement 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 presentations, which is why our ongoing investigation is critical,” Redfield and Sharpless said in the release.
The CDC issued a health advisory Friday to alert health officials to the growing number of severe lung disease cases. The CDC and FDA urged people who vape not to purchase products off the street, and seek medical help immediately if they have any symptoms, like trouble breathing or chest pain. The news comes a week after the first vaping-related death in the U.S. when a patient from Illinois died from a fatal lung disease associated with e-cigarette products.
Counterfit e-cigarettes have been blamed for potentially causing a spike in lung damage among teens. President Trump's former Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb called out illegal vapes and THC as the cause of the health crisis on Twitter Tuesday.
FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2013, file photo, John Hartigan, proprietor of Vapeology LA, a store selling electronic cigarettes and related items, takes a puff of an electronic cigarette at his store in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Physicians are calling the vaping epidemic a major public health issue that can cause damaging long-term effects.
“People that buy these substances on the street are really playing Russian roulette," Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill hospital in New York City, told FOX Business. "The long-term effects are not known, and everyone reacts differently – you have teens and very young children eight to 10 that are trying these products that essentially cause permanent damage to their lungs.”
"Vaping is not water vapor," Glatter continued. "It’s complex chemicals altered from their original state when they’re heated to high temperatures, and you’re exposing your lung tissue to heated chemicals that could be cancer-causing.”
The CDC and FDA noted there is not one product involved in all of the lung disease cases, though THC and cannabinoids use has been reported in many.