CDC: Number of vaping-related lung injury cases surpasses 1,000
As of Oct. 1, 1,080 confirmed and probable cases of lung injury associated with electronic cigarette use, or vaping, have been reported by 48 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There have also been 18 deaths confirmed and reported to CDC from 15 states, with additional deaths under investigation, Anne Schuchat, MD, CDC principal deputy director, said today during a telebriefing.
The increase of 275 cases since last week is a combination of new patients becoming ill during the past 2 weeks and recent reporting of previously identified patients, she added.
Consistent with the case definition, all reported patients have a history of using e-cigarette or vaping products. Previously reported trends also continue to persist, according to CDC officials. Of the 1,080 cases, approximately 70% are male, 80% are aged younger than 35 years, 37% are aged younger than 21 years and most report a history of using tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products.
Last week, MMWR published national-level data on the outbreak from 514 patients. Today, Schuchat reported that CDC now has information on the substances used in e-cigarette or vaping products from 578 patients.
?In the 3 months before symptom onset, we found that 78% reported using THC-containing products and 37% report using only THC-containing products. About 58% reported using nicotine-containing products and 17% reported using only nicotine-containing products,? Schuchat said.
Among patients who died, the median age is approximately 50 years, ranging from ages 27 to 71 years. Schuchat also noted that there is a higher proportion of females represented among fatal cases preliminarily than in the full population of people affected.
?The fatalities that we?re seeing tend to be a bit older than what we?re seeing in the overall population,? Schuchat said. ?I think it wouldn?t be that surprising for older people, potentially with underlying conditions, to not withstand a lung injury like this, but again, with only data on less than two dozen deaths, it may be too early to draw conclusions.?
Judy McMeekin, PharmD, deputy associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at the FDA, also provided an update on the agency?s actions in investigating the outbreak. Currently, the FDA has received more than 440 samples of the e-cigarette or vaping products used from 18 states. These samples include devices, pods, cartridges, diluting agents and more.
Based on the FDA?s analysis to date, there does not appear to be one product or substance involved in all of the cases, she noted.
As of Oct. 1, 1,080 confirmed and probable cases of lung injury associated with electronic cigarette use, or vaping, have been reported by 48 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There have also been 18 deaths confirmed and reported to CDC from 15 states, with additional deaths under investigation, Anne Schuchat, MD, CDC principal deputy director, said today during a telebriefing.
The increase of 275 cases since last week is a combination of new patients becoming ill during the past 2 weeks and recent reporting of previously identified patients, she added.
Consistent with the case definition, all reported patients have a history of using e-cigarette or vaping products. Previously reported trends also continue to persist, according to CDC officials. Of the 1,080 cases, approximately 70% are male, 80% are aged younger than 35 years, 37% are aged younger than 21 years and most report a history of using tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products.
Last week, MMWR published national-level data on the outbreak from 514 patients. Today, Schuchat reported that CDC now has information on the substances used in e-cigarette or vaping products from 578 patients.
?In the 3 months before symptom onset, we found that 78% reported using THC-containing products and 37% report using only THC-containing products. About 58% reported using nicotine-containing products and 17% reported using only nicotine-containing products,? Schuchat said.
Among patients who died, the median age is approximately 50 years, ranging from ages 27 to 71 years. Schuchat also noted that there is a higher proportion of females represented among fatal cases preliminarily than in the full population of people affected.
?The fatalities that we?re seeing tend to be a bit older than what we?re seeing in the overall population,? Schuchat said. ?I think it wouldn?t be that surprising for older people, potentially with underlying conditions, to not withstand a lung injury like this, but again, with only data on less than two dozen deaths, it may be too early to draw conclusions.?
Judy McMeekin, PharmD, deputy associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at the FDA, also provided an update on the agency?s actions in investigating the outbreak. Currently, the FDA has received more than 440 samples of the e-cigarette or vaping products used from 18 states. These samples include devices, pods, cartridges, diluting agents and more.
Based on the FDA?s analysis to date, there does not appear to be one product or substance involved in all of the cases, she noted.
