In the United States, around thirty people have been hospitalized for respiratory problems in recent weeks. Their common point: the consumption of electronic cigarettes. Health authorities are investigating.
In the United States, nearly 30 people have been hospitalized for severe respiratory problems, fatigue and dizziness in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois in recent weeks. While the severity of the cases vary, they all have one thing in common: all patients reported vaping nicotine or marijuana via an e-cigarette in the weeks leading up to their hospitalization. The public health departments of these three states located in the north of the country have therefore opened an investigation into these cases as well as 20 others of the same kind. “For the moment, vaping is the only common point between all these cases, but we are trying to extend our research to determine with certainty that we are not forgetting anything”, testifies Thomas Haupt, specialist in respiratory problems from the Health Department. of Wisconsin.
“We know that the young people were injured. We do not yet know the causative agent”, explains to the New York Times Dr. David D. Gummin, medical director of the Wisconsin Poison Center and professor and chief of medical toxicology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “We have no leads other than those associated with smoking or vaping.” Initially, doctors suspected the patients of suffering from an infectious disease. But faced with patients’ lack of response to antibiotics and when all reported vaping regularly, doctors began to wonder if they were victims of a toxic substance.
“People who have fallen ill have been very open about some of their recent history (…). Those who were able to speak gave us some leads, but unfortunately not enough to give us a precise direction”, continues Dr. Gummin. According to him, it is possible that young people have purchased a vaping product containing nicotine or cannabis that has already been used once and then refilled with dangerous substances that are difficult to detect.
“We have little experience with vaping”
In Wisconsin, health authorities have reported 12 confirmed and 14 suspected cases of illnesses related to vapor inhalation. People who reported recently snorting oils containing marijuana even had severe lung damage. These patients also reported using open-reservoir devices with interchangeable cartridges. These systems allow consumers to concoct their own liquids if they wish.
In Minnesota, in the past few months, Dr. Emily Chapman, chief medical officer of the Children’s Hospital System, has treated four cases of acute and severe lung injury, including respiratory failure, in teenagers who vaped, reports the New York Times. While the condition of these young people has now improved, Dr. Chapman is not sure that they will ever fully recover. “The truth is, we have so little experience with vaping, compared to the experience we have with cigarettes and cigars. Remember how long it took us to figure out that cigarette was linked to lung cancer. There are so many things that we don’t know,” she worries.
State public health departments are therefore now working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control to determine the source of the victims’ illness. “The agency is working with state health officials to gather more information about the products or substances used,” says Michael Felberbaum, an FDA spokesperson. “We encourage the public to submit detailed reports of any unexpected health or product concerns to the FDA,” he continues.
Creation of addictions among many young Americans
Electronic cigarettes have been available since 2006 in the United States and until now scientists have believed that they are less toxic than traditional cigarettes. However, recently a study identified chemicals in some Juul e-cigarette liquids, extremely popular with young Americans. According to some researchers, these chemicals can be particularly irritating to the lungs and cause damage when inhaled. And if many experts still assure that electronic cigarettes are less dangerous than conventional cigarettes, we have seen in the United States the creation of addiction among young people who have never smoked tobacco.
Indeed, in March 2019, the Centers for Disease Control published a new report highlighting the increase in e-cigarette use among young college students. Thus, in 2018, more than one in four high school students (27.1%) regularly consumed (20 days or more over a period of 30 days) one or more tobacco products (ie cigarettes, electronic cigarettes , pipe, cigar, etc.), which represents an increase of 38% compared to 2017. In detail, the use of electronic cigarettes increased by 78% between 2017 and 2018.
Faced with this worrying trend, the city of San Francisco (California) has decided to ban its sale by 2020. At the same time, the FDA is conducting studies to determine whether there is a direct relationship between the use of e-cigarettes and the risk of seizures or other neurological problems. Because since 2010, the agency has received 127 reports of seizures or other neurological symptoms in consumers.
In the meantime, in France, the electronic cigarette continues to have good press. According to an Odoxa-Dentsu Consulting survey conducted in 2018 for Le Figaro and France Info with 1030 people, for more than two thirds of those surveyed, the electronic cigarette is indeed a smoking cessation aid.
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