CDC flags one death and nearly 200 cases of lung illnesses in U.S, possibly tied to vaping

By Matthew Lavietes

 

FILE PHOTO: A man vapes outside an office block in Manchester, Britain, February 6, 2019. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it had identified 193 potential cases of severe lung illness tied to vaping in 22 states as of Aug. 22, including one adult in Illinois who died after being hospitalized.

 

The CDC has been investigating a "cluster" of lung illnesses that it believes may be linked to e-cigarette use, although it has not yet been able to establish whether they were in fact caused by vaping.

 

E-cigarettes are generally thought to be safer than traditional cigarettes, which kill up to half of all lifetime users, according to the World Health Organization. But the long-term health effects of vaping are largely unknown.

 

In a briefing with the press, representatives from health agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said they have not linked the illnesses to any specific product and that some patients had reporting vaping with cannabis liquids.

 

Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said the agency is analysing product samples from states, to identify any potentially harmful constituents that may be triggering the illnesses.

 

He said health agencies are trying to learn which specific vaping products were used and whether they were being used as intended or mixed with other substances.

 

"Those kinds of facts need to be strung together for every single one of these cases, so that we can see if any other kinds of patterns have emerged," Zeller said.

 

The number of potential cases have more than doubled over the past week. On Aug. 17 the CDC said it was investigating 94 potential lung illnesses in 14 states.

 

Brian King, deputy director of research translation at the CDC's smoking and health division, said it is possible there may have been earlier cases that health agencies had not identified.

 

"The bottom line is that there's a variety of things in e-cigarette aerosols that could have implications for lung health," said King, adding that none of those compounds have been directly linked to the recent hospitalizations.

 

In a statement on Thursday, Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said he was "confident" the illnesses were being caused by devices containing cannabis or other synthetic drugs, not nicotine.

 

Patients have reported difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and sometimes chest pain before being hospitalized. Some have shown symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue.

 

"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," Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement earlier.

 

(Reporting by Matthew Lavietes in New York, Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles and Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-24

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I’m sure glad I’m not nicotine dependent any more it wasent easy getting off of it

Everyone knows by now that breathing polluted air causes breathing problems in many people...vaping just exacerbates the condition...duh!   ☠

Allowing yourself to become addicted to a substance, and in turn becoming a source of corporate profits, is plain stupid; just quit already.

 

And yes, I am that most evil of things; a reformed smoker. Deal with it.

 

 

The "identified" cases were obviously cigarettes smokers to begin with, so possibly had underlying lung conditions to begin with, and possible industrial exposure to airborne pollutants (petrol diesel etc), so the numbers  directly attributed  to "vaping" would be very difficult to quantify.

Nicotine is a very addictive substance and a killer 

This was bound to happen. It follows revelations about how children love the bubblegum and sweet flavors available so it became cool for kids to vape. This was fantastic news for big tobacco, seeing as it was going to reverse their fortunes. It had become problematic to sustain sales of ciggies without being able to advertise to hook the next gen of users on nicotine. The whole vapes targeted to kids idea was pure genius(I say this as a large holder of tobacco stock) but alas there was bound to be some blow back. And here we are. Shock and awe tactics. Don't try vaping of your lungs will collapse after the first drag. Overdone IMO and will fail due to that.

 Everybody knows vaping is safer than puffing on fags.

1 minute ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This was bound to happen. It follows revelations about how children love the bubblegum and sweet flavors available so it became cool for kids to vape. This was fantastic news for big tobacco, seeing as it was going to reverse their fortunes. It had become problematic to sustain sales of ciggies without being able to advertise to hook the next gen of users on nicotine. The whole vapes targeted to kids idea was pure genius(I say this as a large holder of tobacco stock) but alas there was bound to be some blow back. And here we are. Shock and awe tactics. Don't try vaping of your lungs will collapse after the first drag. Overdone IMO and will fail due to that.

 Everybody knows vaping is safer than puffing on fags.

Would need long term research on controlled subject participation to make the last claim

Due to ethics restrictions on "harm"the research would not be allowed, so hard to make that claim, as who knows what chemicals are used in the devices

many tens or hundred of thousands people die of smoking

 

but let's concentrate on the 1 death of vaping

 

yeah ....  

 

sponsored by the tobacco industry that gladly paid cdc/fda off for this scare tactic , and I don't even smoke...

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

In a statement on Thursday, Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said he was "confident" the illnesses were being caused by devices containing cannabis or other synthetic drugs, not nicotine.

 

Just as the tobacco industry was so confident and constantly assured the public cigarettes didn’t cause cancer. 

Well verdict is in. Vaping is a killer .

 

1 death , 193 cases of lung illness , maybe , possibly, unsure , used cannabis oil could be linked to vaping therefore vaping is a killer????

 

How many lung illnesses related to smoking ? And how many deaths because of smoking during the same time?

I came across this item of interest.

 

 

 

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/respiratory-distress-vaping-texas-teenager-kept-alive-by-hospital-machines-after-his-lungs-collapsed/news-story/0ff23baa2b8fe69b32a6524d40f03111

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Allowing yourself to become addicted to a substance, and in turn becoming a source of corporate profits, is plain stupid; just quit already.

 

And yes, I am that most evil of things; a reformed smoker. Deal with it.

 

 

Post of the year!

1 hour ago, BestB said:

how many deaths because of smoking 

in the text it says 50 % when a life time of use.

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

I came across this item of interest.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/respiratory-distress-vaping-texas-teenager-kept-alive-by-hospital-machines-after-his-lungs-collapsed/news-story/0ff23baa2b8fe69b32a6524d40f03111

as the saying goes: " too much " is always bad for you.

4 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This was bound to happen. It follows revelations about how children love the bubblegum and sweet flavors available so it became cool for kids to vape. This was fantastic news for big tobacco, seeing as it was going to reverse their fortunes. It had become problematic to sustain sales of ciggies without being able to advertise to hook the next gen of users on nicotine. The whole vapes targeted to kids idea was pure genius(I say this as a large holder of tobacco stock) but alas there was bound to be some blow back. And here we are. Shock and awe tactics. Don't try vaping of your lungs will collapse after the first drag. Overdone IMO and will fail due to that.

 Everybody knows vaping is safer than puffing on fags.

 

2 hours ago, justin case said:

many tens or hundred of thousands people die of smoking

 

but let's concentrate on the 1 death of vaping

 

yeah ....  

 

sponsored by the tobacco industry that gladly paid cdc/fda off for this scare tactic , and I don't even smoke...

 

1 hour ago, Bluespunk said:

Just as the tobacco industry was so confident and constantly assured the public cigarettes didn’t cause cancer. 

Ok, people in the know only please.

 

Is the tobacco industry involved in vaping? The posts above are contradictory.

25 minutes ago, stevenl said:

 

 

Ok, people in the know only please.

 

Is the tobacco industry involved in vaping? The posts above are contradictory.

I was merely pointing out you cannot trust the propaganda of those who make a product when health concerns are raised about said product. 

 

The history of the tobacco industry has and appears to be developing yet more similar parallels to vaping. 

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Bluespunk

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

I was merely pointing out you cannot trust the propaganda of those who make a product when health concerns are raised about said product. 

 

The history of the tobacco industry parallels vaping. 

 

Now hope thats clear and enough “in the know” for you...

 

If it’s not, that’s your problem. 

Sad reaction to a simple question.

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Sad reaction to a simple question.

As was the opening line in your post. 

 

In addition my post was not linked to the other posts. I neither quoted or referenced them. 

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Bluespunk

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

cannabis or other synthetic drugs

Since when was cannabis declared as a synthetic drug?

8 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

As was the opening line in your post. 

 

In addition my post was not linked to the other posts. I neither quoted or referenced them. 

yes, your post should not have been there.

 

No, it was not a sad line. Posters here are contradicting, hence the request for people who know to answer.

Just now, stevenl said:

yes, your post should not have been there.

 

No, it was not a sad line. Posters here are contradicting, hence the request for people who know to answer.

Then perhaps I should not have been quoted. 

 

I disagree with you on your opening line. 

 

That said I will modify my post. 

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 The whole vapes targeted to kids idea was pure genius(I say this as a large holder of tobacco stock) but alas there was bound to be some blow back. And here we are. Shock and awe tactics. Don't try vaping of your lungs will collapse after the first drag. Overdone IMO and will fail due to that.

 Everybody knows vaping is safer than puffing on fags.

As a self proclaimed “large holder of tobacco stock”, your opinion might be somewhat biased and therefore unreliable and of dubious worth to the argument over the adverse effects of tobacco products.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

 

 

Ok, people in the know only please.

 

Is the tobacco industry involved in vaping? The posts above are contradictory.

I’m not sure how involved big tobacco was during e cig development, but they sure are involved now

 

https://www.ft.com/content/30e3eca8-2415-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by jany123

Well , I guess it will take a thousand or so Vaping deaths  before the danger becomes apparent enough for the vapers and smokers to start believing anything.  Sad..

Geezer

E-Cigs have been on the market over 10 years.....Millions of vapers....No reports of death or sickness.....Then in a few weeks time span a death a lots of sickness..........Knock Knock lets get our brains working shall we...99% probability there was a problem with the vaping juice...Case closed... 

Edited August 25, 20196 yr by fforest1

Certainly in Wisconsin It's not vaping as such: it's contaminated, black market cannabis oil.

 

It may even be caused by unwittingly vaping 'spice', which is an illegal street drug.

 

 

 

 

Disgraceful the way so called Health bodies continue to do a hatchet job on vaping, which is likely near harmless, and may even be beneficial to some COPD sufferers, as well as those afflicted by asthma and nasal allergies.

 

As many of us suspected, the real culprit is contaminated oil: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/as-vaping-related-lung-illnesses-spike-investigators-eye-contaminants/2019/08/29/cfe26032-ca78-11e9-be05-f76ac4ec618c_story.html

 

 

But meanwhile, normal vaping is dragged through the mud.

 

Thank goodness some countries such as the UK have fair, accurate, and genuinely well motivated policies.

On 8/24/2019 at 5:38 AM, rooster59 said:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it had identified 193 potential cases of severe lung illness tied to vaping in 22 states as of Aug. 22, including one adult in Illinois who died after being hospitalized.

Well, if they elect to vape, smoke, whatever, that's down to them. I'm much more concerned with the potential effects of their habit, when in public spaces, on non-smokers/vapers.

On 8/23/2019 at 7:37 PM, TopDeadSenter said:

This was bound to happen. It follows revelations about how children love the bubblegum and sweet flavors available so it became cool for kids to vape. This was fantastic news for big tobacco, seeing as it was going to reverse their fortunes. It had become problematic to sustain sales of ciggies without being able to advertise to hook the next gen of users on nicotine. The whole vapes targeted to kids idea was pure genius(I say this as a large holder of tobacco stock) but alas there was bound to be some blow back. And here we are. Shock and awe tactics. Don't try vaping of your lungs will collapse after the first drag. Overdone IMO and will fail due to that.

 Everybody knows vaping is safer than puffing on fags.

 

Wow not even I am evil enough to own tobacco stocks. Respect to you.

48 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Well, if they elect to vape, smoke, whatever, that's down to them. I'm much more concerned with the potential effects of their habit, when in public spaces, on non-smokers/vapers.

Sadly, that's what I mean by the misinformation hitting home.

 

Vaping is near harmless to the user, and is absolutely harmless to people around it.  I think it's mainly banned/restricted in public places anyway.