Washington
Eighteen people have died from illnesses associated with e-cigarette use since March, United States health authorities said Thursday, while more than a thousand others have suffered probable lung injuries linked to vaping.
Officials have yet to identify the cause for the outbreak, which dates back to late March, and are pursuing multiple lines of investigation.
A report by clinicians in North Carolina last month pointed to the inhalation of fatty substances from aerosolized oils as causing acute lipoid pneumonia, but a new study by the Mayo Clinic published this week found patients’ lungs had been exposed to noxious fumes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 18 deaths in 15 states had now been positively linked to vaping, along with 1,080 cases of injury – a jump of 275 since last week.
The CDC attributed the sharp increase to a combination of new patients becoming ill in the past two weeks and recent reporting of previously identified patients.–AFP
