Washington (AFP)
Several patients who had been treated after using e-cigarettes had to be hospitalized again, US health authorities said Friday, continuing to investigate the epidemic of lung diseases responsible for the deaths of 26 people.
About 1,300 cases of severe pulmonary disease associated with vaping have been reported throughout the country since March and virtually all patients have been hospitalized. But no sign of weakening this epidemic, despite the warnings of health authorities, was noteworthy.
"We were informed that a handful of people were readmitted for clinical care after leaving the hospital, where they were due to a lung infection, and we need to better understand these situations," Anne told reporters. Schuchat, senior manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
There are "fewer than five" people involved, she said, and the time between discharge and readmission ranged from five to 55 days.
The causes of these new hospitalizations remained, at this stage, still unclear even if the investigators leaned for several hypotheses such as the recovery of the e-cigarette or the increased sensitivity of patients to infections after contracting a lung disease.
The authorities recommended that all patients make a routine visit within seven days.
According to Schuchat, research at the national level suggests that products containing THC, the psychoactive agent of cannabis, especially those obtained on the street or from unknown sources, play a major role in the epidemic.
Of the samples of THC-containing products tested so far, 47% had vitamin E acetate, according to Ned Sharpless, the acting director of the US Drug Agency (FDA).
Vitamin E is a normally harmless supplement that is bought as a capsule to swallow, or oil to apply to the skin but is harmful when inhaled or heated.
For now, investigators believe that some cases are due to risky practices related to the preparation of THC. It may be, however, that in some other cases there are other causes for these diseases.
© 2019 AFP