4 Cases Of Vaping-Related, Severe Lung Injuries Confirmed In Oklahoma
Officials with the Oklahoma State Department of Health announced Thursday there have been four confirmed cases of severe lung injuries associated with e-cigarettes use or vaping in our state.
According to the Health Department, the state’s first case of vaping-related lung injury was reported on Sept. 26 in Tulsa County. Since then, three new cases were reported between Sept. 26 and Wednesday.
One patient is under the age of 18, two are 18-34 years old and the fourth one is 35 years or older.
Two of the cases are reported in Oklahoma County, one in Tulsa County and another one in northeast Oklahoma.
Symptoms included shortness of breath, fever, cough, chest pain, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Some patients have reported that their symptoms developed over a few days, while others have reported that their symptoms developed over several weeks. A lung infection does not appear to be causing the symptoms, health officials said.
Health officials advise strongly against buying e-cigarette and vaping products off the street and modifying products or adding substances not intended by the manufacturer. At no time are e-cigarette or vaping products recommended for use by youth, young adults, pregnant women or adults who do not currently use tobacco products, officials with the Health Department said.
According to health officials, there have been 805 cases of lung injury reported from 46 states and one U.S. territory. Twelve deaths have been confirmed in 10 states.
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