Vaping Claims its First Victim

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Health officials from Illinois announced that an individual who presented for medical treatment suffering from a severe lung problem died. Illinois health officials believe that the person’s death is attributable to e-cigarette consumption. The person’s untimely demise appears to be the first fatal case out of nearly 200 illnesses reported across 22 states relating to vaping and e-cigarette use. TheWashington Post said that the patients are teenagers and lung adults primarily. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched an investigation into the lung illnesses that have baffled physicians across the country.

In Illinois, 22 people whose ages range from 17 to 38 required hospitalization after experiencing respiratory distress from vaping or from consuming e-cigarette products. The health authorities in Illinois are investigating another 12 potential cases of respiratory problems to see if these cases are connected to e-cigarettes or vaping.

The systems with which patients present tend to mimic pneumonia. Common symptoms of this mysterious lung illness are fatigue, shortness of breath, stomach issues like diarrhea and vomiting, and coughing. The symptoms gradually deteriorated until the patients sought medical care.

The mystery at the center of the growing health concern has confounded medical professionals. Healthcare providers have not been able to determine whether the people got sick because of the devices themselves, the ingredients in whatever the patients ingested, or simply the contaminants in the vapor or electronically generated cloud produced by an e-cigarette. Vapor-producing cartridges are not uniform in design or ingredient. Vaping can take many forms, including nicotine, marijuana, and even homebrew.

Most of the illness in Illinois, and across the U.S. involving serious illnesses stem from marijuana-infused vaping. However, health officials have been unable to identify one product or a series of products that link the illnesses together. Healthcare providers have yet to determine whether the patients stricken by illness after vaping fell ill from the same disease or different diseases. However, one common ingredient in vaping, known as diacetyl, was linked to various respiratory problems.

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