2nd Michigan man dies from vaping-related lung injury

As a vaping-related lung injury claimed the life of a second Michigander this week, health officials are urging the public to stop using e-cigarettes or vape products, especially those containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and those bought off the street.

“We are deeply saddened to announce a second death associated with this outbreak,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “We are urging people to refrain from vaping until the specific cause of the vaping-related severe lung injuries being reported nationwide has been identified. To help with this investigation, we are reminding health care providers to report patients that may have this condition to their local health department.”

Citing patient confidentiality, the MDHHS reported Wednesday only that the person who died is an adult male, and that the department was notified Tuesday of his death.

E-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury, also referred to as EVALI, has sickened more than 2,290 people in the U.S. since March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And as of Nov. 20, at least 47 people have died in 25 states.

The state marked its first death to lung injury tied to vaping on Oct. 4. Since August, Michigan has 56 confirmed and probable vaping-related lung injury cases in people ages 15-67, according to the MDHHS. All of them were reported in the Lower Peninsula and most people sickened by vapes have been hospitalized and treated for severe respiratory illness.

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All EVALI patients have reported a history of using e-cigarette or vape products.

The latest national and state research suggests that e-cigarettes and vape products containing THC — especially those that come from informal sources like friends, or family, or in-person or online dealers — are linked to most of the cases and play a major role in the outbreak, according to the CDC.

So far, no specific brand of device or e-liquid has been implicated in causing the illnesses, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern.

CDC laboratory testing of fluid samples collected from the lungs of 29 patients in 10 states found vitamin E acetate in all of the samples. Vitamin E acetate is used as an additive, most often as a thickening agent in some e-cigarettes or vape products.

THC was identified in 82% of the samples and nicotine was identified in 62% of the samples.

CDC recommends that people should not use THC-containing vape products, especially those from informal or black-market sources like friends, family or in-person or online dealers. In addition, health officials say people should not add vitamin E acetate — or any substance — to vape products.

Among those who've been reported to have severe vape-related lung injury is a 17-year-old Michigan boy who received a double lung transplant in October at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The boy, whose family described him as a student athlete who loves sailing and playing video games with friends, underwent transplant surgery Oct. 15, after more than a month of hospitalization at three Detroit hospitals.

"This teenager faced imminent death had he not received a lung transplant," said Dr. Hassan Nemeh, surgical director of thoracic organ transplant at Henry Ford Hospital, during a news conference earlier this month.

E-cigarette and/or vaping users should immediately seek medical attention if they develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, fever and/or nausea and vomiting, health officials say.

More information about the vaping-related lung injury for the public is available online at www.michigan.gov/vapelung.