There have been over 450 mysterious vaping related illnesses in 33 different states recently. I thought this would be a good time for a reminder of what these devices are and what to look for as far as signs and symptoms of someone suffering from these illnesses.
There have been over 450 mysterious vaping related illnesses in 33 different states recently. I thought this would be a good time for a reminder of what these devices are and what to look for as far as signs and symptoms of someone suffering from these illnesses.
Background:
Initially electronic cigarettes were constructed to be a smoking cessation device. The first successful commercially sold electronic cigarette was designed in China by Hon Lik, after his father died of lung cancer, thinking there must be a safer way to stop smoking.
Every vaping product have the same components regardless of the company. Each has a battery, a wick, a coil, and some sort of e-liquid. The e-liquid is drawn onto the coil by the wick. The battery pushes electricity through the coil, heating the e-liquid until it vaporizes. In most pods, there are a few key ingredients, propylene glycol, glycerine, benzoic acid, nicotine, and flavor. The products have not been around long enough to know the lasting effects of the chemicals found in the pods, but what is well known is that nicotine is highly addictive.
Juul is the most popular cigarette. Their product is the easiest to conceal because it looks so much like a flash drive. But beyond that, because the e-liquid heats up at lower temperature in Juul that means it creates a smaller plume of smoke, which means students can take a puff in a classroom or dorm room and go unnoticed. Juul was also the first to use salt-based nicotine which is not as harsh on a first time user, it has a smoother feel that makes it more comfortable for new users. Juul used to have a lot of flavors, but they have stopped selling flavored pods in stores and you need social security access online to buy flavored pods.
In any given Juul pod, there is more nicotine than in one pack of cigarettes. For competitors Phix and Suorin they have the equivalent nicotine of two and three packs of cigarettes, respectively. In the Juul pods, there are roughly 200 puffs. This is just anecdotal to speaking with students here, but a student may finish a pod in a day or a week. If the students are smoking at the least one pod a week, during that time period they are smoking the equivalent of over a hundred cigarettes.
Recent Mysterious Illnesses:
Recently six people have died as a result of vaping related illnesses. All that died used e-cigarettes and most used a pod containing THC. In New York, each person that showed signs of vaping related illnesses had the chemical Vitamin E Acetate in it.
The signs and symptoms of these illnesses are shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or chest pain. Some patients have reported fever, cough, and vomiting. If you recognize any of these sign in one of our students they should seek out a health care professional right away.
Thank you to our faculty for their continued vigilance and your help in addressing this problem. Thank you for all that our faculty do in keeping our students safe.