Schuchat said THC vaping “largely explains” the big increase in acute cases that spiked over the summer, but the findings do not imply that nicotine vaping is entirely safe. In one report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, public health officials found that emergency room visits for the vaping lung injuries rose sharply beginning in June and peaked in September. In a second report in the New England Journal, researchers report that additional testing of lung samples from people who had vaping injuries strengthens earlier studies pointing to vitamin E acetate as a likely culprit in the outbreak. The study, which looked at lung samples from patients in 16 states, found vitamin E acetate in 94 percent of lung samples taken from patients who vaped THC. Patients who got sick after discharge tended to have a history of heart disease, respiratory conditions and diabetes.

Source: National Post December 20, 2019 18:22 UTC