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A London-area high school student is believed to be the first reported case of serious lung illness from vaping in Canada, shining a harsh spotlight on the hazards of the smoking substitute that regulators in the U.S. are investigating amid a string of recent deaths and illnesses.

Local health officials took the rare step of holding a news conference about the teen’s brush with death hours after the province ordered hospitals to start collecting and reporting data on vaping-related cases of severe pulmonary disease.

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The unidentified teen – whose gender and age were not disclosed – was diagnosed with “severe respiratory illness” that health officials link to vaping, the Middlesex-London Health Unit said.

The high school student was put in intensive care on life support in hospital, but is now recovering at home, chief medical officer of health Chris Mackie said.

“This case was carefully investigated by our local physicians and there was no other cause, no infectious cause . . . no other immune-related issues. The only issue that was identified was that the individual vaped e-cigarettes,” Mackie said.