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An e-cigarette user in Illinois is the first to die from a mysterious lung illness linked to vaping.
The individual was hospitalized for a mysterious lung illness that has been linked to vaping and is one of ~200 similar cases across 22 states.
The affected individuals have had symptoms including cough, shortness of breath and fatigue, officials said. Some also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms worsened over a period of days or weeks before they were hospitalized.
Illinois officials said the death was in an adult who died this month but did not provide further details about the person or what device or product had been used.
While some of the cases appear similar, officials said they don't know whether the illnesses are associated with the e-cigarette devices themselves, or with specific ingredients or contaminants inhaled through them.
Health officials have said patients have described vaping a variety of substances, including nicotine, marijuana-based products and do-it-yourself "home brews."
Although cases appear similar, no common factor has yet been determined or even if these are all the same disease.
Mitch Zeller, who heads the Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency is working to identify the products used, where they were purchased, how they were used and whether other compounds were added.
"That information needs to be strung together for every single one of these cases to see if any patterns emerge," he said.
For perspective, according to CDC statistics more than 1300 people die from cigarette-related deaths per day in the United States, and more than 7 million per year world wide.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 25 2019, @06:30PM (6 children)
Don't smoke or vape, and your question was the first thing that occurred to me as well.
As vaping has apparently been around a lot longer outside the US, are there reports of this mysterious condition from other countries?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday August 25 2019, @07:16PM (4 children)
For that matter, it's been around more than 10 years inside the U.S.
Of course, if it was actually the Propylene Glycol we would have been seeing mass casualties after every rock concert. It's not likely the nicotine (or THC in some of the reports) since people have been infaling those vapors for a very long time. Actually inhaling tobacco smoke can be quite bad, but the reported problems are much more acute than centuries of data would suggest for nicotine in smoke.
Of course, if they bought their e-liquid super cheap from some guy in a van, who knows what they might have inhaled.
If you huff bear spray, you're gonna have a bad time!
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Sunday August 25 2019, @09:11PM (3 children)
People are walking around sucking on these things all day like a baby with a pacifier. Of course if you inhale that shit all day every day bad things can happen.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Monday August 26 2019, @12:05AM (2 children)
And the guys putting on the concerts DID breath it every day. So have millions of vapers for the last 10 years or more. That we are now suddenly seeing an acute reaction suggests something was different in what they were vaping. Or even that vaping might be a red herring distracting from another commonality.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday August 26 2019, @12:18AM (1 child)
How many non-vapers are getting these lung issues?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday August 26 2019, @12:28AM
As far as we know, none. That's why I suspect that it's something only a few people are using in their liquid rather than the PG, VG, or nicotine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 25 2019, @07:20PM
I have not heard about any lung issues from vaping in European media, but since this is happening in the US, my guess would be on 1) people buying vape juice made in some back alley with some unknown ingredients / viruses / bacteria and/or 2) people in desperate socioeconomic conditions, vulnerable to lung disease, who happen to vape to make their shitty lives feel better.