Vaping kills a 15-year-old in Texas

Cases of lung illness and deaths from vaping have tapered off since peaking in September, health officials said on Thursday, but the outbreak also reached a grim new milestone: The youngest death, of a 15-year-old, was reported by Dallas County Health and Human Services.

The teenager had “a chronic underlying medical condition,” Texas officials said in a statement on Dec. 31, but they did not identify the condition, the patient’s gender or what products the patient had been vaping.

“Reporting a death in a teen due to Evali is so tragic,” Dr. Philip Huang, the Dallas County health director, said in a statement, referring to the official name for the disorder, E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury. “We are seeing that severe lung damage, and even death, can occur with just short-term use of these products.”

The statement said that one teenager in the Dallas area who was hospitalized with the illness reported having vaped for only one month.

Nationwide, there have been 2,602 cases of the illness and 57 deaths as of Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday. The median age of those who died was 51, with a range of 15 to 75 years. Before the Texas teenager’s death, the youngest reported vaping fatality was a 17-year-old Bronx resident.

Many of the older patients who died were reported to have underlying health conditions. On Wednesday, Massachusetts reported its fourth death: a man in his 70s from Middlesex County who had vaped THC, state health officials said.

Although the outbreak seems to be slowing, states are still reporting new cases every week, and more deaths are being investigated, the CDC said.

Most patients had vaped THC, the high-inducing chemical in marijuana. The CDC said the cause of their lung damage was very likely to be vitamin E acetate, an oily substance added to stretch the supply of THC. Laboratories have found the vitamin in illegal THC products and in fluid samples from patients’ lungs.

How vitamin E acetate could injure the lungs is not known. Researchers have suggested that it might disrupt a natural substance in the lungs called surfactant, which helps keep air sacs open and is essential for breathing. Another possibility is that the vitamin oil, when heated in a vaping device, may break down into a powerful toxin that leaves the lungs with damage similar to the chemical burns seen in war victims attacked with poison gas.

Though much of the evidence points to THC, health officials say that does not mean nicotine vaping can be considered safe.

“While it appears that vitamin E acetate is associated with Evali, there are many different substances and product sources that are being investigated, and there may be more than one cause,” the CDC says on its website. “Therefore, the best way for people to ensure that they are not at risk while the investigation continues is to consider refraining from the use of all e-cigarette, or vaping, products.”

It adds: “There is no safe tobacco product. All tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, carry a risk.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump wants to raise minimum age for vaping to 21

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he supported raising the minimum age for the purchase of e-cigarettes from 18 to 21 as part of a plan to curtail youth vaping.

But he also indicated that he was concerned about over-regulation on business, a sign the administration is considering stepping back from a previously announced complete ban on flavored e-juices popular among adolescents.

The federal minimum age for purchasing tobacco products is 18, but 18 states and the District of Columbia have set their minimum age at 21.

Raising the federal minimum age requires an act of Congress, and the cause has attracted bipartisan support, with one proposed bill co-sponsored by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"We're going to be coming out with a very important position on vaping," Trump told reporters. "We have to take care of our kids most importantly, so we're going to have an age limit of 21 or so." 

He added that a policy paper would be issued next week.

The administration announced in September it would soon ban flavored products, but it appeared lobbying efforts by the vaping industry may have changed that position.

"We have a lot of people to look at, including jobs frankly," said Trump. "It has become a big industry. We're going take care of it."

- Health fears -

The vaping industry is facing unprecedented scrutiny amid a mysterious epidemic of lung conditions linked to e-cigarette use that has killed 39 and sickened more than 2,000 mostly young people in the US in recent months.

Investigators say no single substance is behind the outbreak, which has been named "e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury" or "EVALI".

But preliminary work has linked a cutting agent used in cannabis flavorings, usually sold on the black market, to lung injury.

Vaping is increasingly popular among youth, with a government survey this week finding that more than five million middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, an all-time high.

Youth vapers overwhelmingly chose flavors like mint, mango, cream, fruit and cucumber, unlike people who are trying to quit smoking and turn to tobacco flavored pods.

The proposed flavor ban has caused an outcry among vaping businesses, who argue they strictly ID their customers to confirm their age.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters earlier this week vape shops may be exempted.

source: news.abs-cbn.com