The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently investigating 193 cases of the lung disease reported in 22 states. (CA, CT, IL, IN, IA, MN, MI, NC, NJ, NM, NY, PA, TX, UT, WI, and additional states pending verification). These were reported between June 28th and August 20th of this year.
All of the illnesses were in teens or adults who had used an electronic cigarette or some other kind of vaping device. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance.
According to the Associated Press, Health officials said Friday that an Illinois patient who contracted a serious lung disease after vaping has died and that they consider it the first death in the United States linked to the smoking alternative.
An NPR article said, The cluster of lung illness cases was first detected by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee where eight previously healthy teenagers were hospitalized with severe lung damage. The symptoms included coughing, weight loss and significant breathing difficulties. “As the clinical team was trying to get a better understanding about what might be causing this, it became apparent that the one preceding factor was that the patients had been vaping,” says Dr. Michael Gutzeit, chief medical officer of the hospital.
“Investigators haven’t identified any specific product or compound that is linked to all of the cases,” Ileana Arias, a CDC official who oversees non-infectious disease, said during a Friday call with reporters. She also said the sickened might be dealing with different illnesses that have similar symptoms.