Health officials in Indiana have reported the state's first death of a resident there due to "severe lung injury" after a history of e-cigarette use. The news comes one day after a man in Oregon reportedly died from a similar condition. The Indiana resident's death brings the national total to three, as health officials try to understand the link between vaping and a cluster of severe respiratory diseases that have been reported across the country.
Officials did not identified the man who had passed, citing privacy laws, but did say he was an adult. There was no indication of what the person had been vaping.
"The tragic loss of a Hoosier and rising number of vaping-related injuries are warnings that we cannot ignore,” Dr. Kris Box, Indiana's health commissioner, said in a statement. "We know that these products typically contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, and many cases report inhaling THC and other substances not available in commercial products. While it is unclear what substances are causing injury, when you use these products with other chemicals, you may not know everything that you’re inhaling and the harm it can cause."
So far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there have been at least 432 cases of the severe lung disease that were confirmed or under investigation in 27 states across the country.
In addition to the man who died in Oregon, a third person died from the same lung illness after using an e-cigarette. The exact cause of the deaths and the dangers presented by vaping are not well-understood, but are being investigated by state and federal regulators. Experts suspect oils that are used in the vapes may play a role in people developing the disease.
People who have fallen ill reported worsening symptoms that included shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever or weight loss. Health officials say anyone who has recently used vaping products like e-cigarettes and vaping products and are having difficulty breathing should seek medical attention immediately.
Meanwhile, health officials in Michigan banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes after the governor said young people in her state needed to be protected from the potentially harmful effects of vaping.
The CDC says its investigation into the lung disease and its possible link to vaping is ongoing.
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