A sixth person has died from a mysterious vaping-related lung disease – and doctors are telling people to ‘stop vaping now’.
The Kansas patient, who was more than 50 years old, was in hospital with ‘symptoms that progressed rapidly’.
As reported by The Sun, state officials have yet to clarify the exact product the man used but added the patient had a history of underlying health issues.
This comes after an LA County man died from a vaping-related illness on Saturday (September 7) – he reportedly suffered from other chronic health conditions at the time of his death.
Other deaths related to e-cigarettes have been reported in the states of Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois and Oregon, while another gentleman was placed into a medically induced coma in Utah.
Cases of respiratory illness have carried severe symptoms, including chest pain, shortness of breath and vomiting.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently probing 450 cases of severe pulmonary disease across 33 states to decipher the link to vaping. For example, some users have e-cigarettes with just nicotine, while others use cannabis-based products.
Of the cases, the majority have reportedly involved young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who were initially suspected to have a pneumonia-like infection.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have urged people to stop vaping after the number of cases doubled in the space of just one week.
As reported by People, CDC incident manager, Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, said:
While this investigation is ongoing, people should consider not using e-cigarette products.
People who do use e-cigarette products should monitor themselves for symptoms, for example, cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and vomiting — and promptly seek medical attention for any health concerns.
A total of 12 people in LA County have now been hospitalised due to e-cigarette-related injuries, with almost all these individuals having vaped using THC. One third were reported to be older adults.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, LA County public health director Barbara Ferrer has issued the following warning:
Today we’re issuing a warning to all residents about the use of these devices as potentially harmful to proper lung function, Stop vaping now.
Officials asked doctors to collect samples in cases where they suspect a patient could have the ailment, which are then sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Mitch Zeller, director of the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA, said they are testing more than 120 samples for a ‘broad range of chemicals’, including ‘nicotine, THC, cannabinoids, cutting agent or diluents, additives, pesticides, opioids, poisons and toxins’.
Zeller added: ‘FDA is going to leave no stone unturned in following any potential leads.’
According to Leafly, there are concerns about the black market trading of vaping products with potentially dangerous additives. They advise anyone using products which are unregulated to stop immediately.
As reported by The Guardian, an estimated nine million adults and 3.6 million teenagers in the US use e-cigarettes. This includes 20 per cent of high school students.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.