While defenders of vaping and e-cigarettes are quick to claim they deliver less nicotine than cigarettes, the flood of unregulated products on the market lays waste to their arguments on a population level. This story illustrates the point, with health authorities in the United States calling for people to stop using them altogether as it probes growing deaths linked to their use. In South Africa we got out of the anti-tobacco blocks 20 years ago, incrementally banning cigarette advertising, smoking in public places and sponsorships by big tobacco companies, plus permissible levels of nicotine and tar in tobacco products. Thanks, no less to Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang who, when she wasn’t denying that HIV causes AIDS, was enthusiastically saying smoking causes cancer and leads to lung-related diseases. Cigarette companies pump billions into promoting alternatives to their original fatal products with, ironically enough, some of the original promoters of anti-tobacco legislation in South Africa now promoting the ‘harm reduction’ cause of alternatives. As measured in 2012, the provinces with the highest current tobacco smoking prevalence were the Western Cape (32.9%), Northern Cape (31.2%) and Free State (27.4%). Which begs the question; why ban cigarette alternatives when the original culprit is still ubiquitous? – Chris Bateman

Vaping-related lung illnesses rise 52%, CDC says

By Kimberly Chin

(The Wall Street Journal) – The number of confirmed or probable cases of vaping-related illness has risen to 805 across 46 states and one U.S. territory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday, as health authorities urge people to stop using electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices while it investigates a rash of illnesses and deaths linked to the products.
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That number has jumped by 275 cases, or a 52% increase from 530 last week. Also on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital confirmed the first vaping-associated death in North Carolina, raising the number of deaths to 13.

The CDC figures included fatalities in 10 other states, including Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, which all reported their first deaths linked to vaping this week.

Nearly three-quarters of the reported cases are male. About 38% of the cases were linked to people 21 years or younger, the CDC said.

The CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and local authorities have opened up investigations into lung injuries linked to vaping over the past few weeks. The FDA is conducting a criminal probe.

At a hearing before House lawmakers on Tuesday, Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, said vaping-related injuries had far surpassed the previously reported estimate of 530 and that officials believe the eight reported fatalities linked to the practice have also been exceeded.

Lawmakers have criticised the release of vaping products into the market without any safety testing or trials.

E-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, flavourings and other chemicals. Most of the products involved in the reported injuries or illnesses are believed to be black-market ones that include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, though Dr. Schuchat said in her testimony that the chemical wasn’t necessarily the culprit.

No single ingredient or additive has been implicated in all cases, she said. The CDC is referring to these cases only as lung injury.

Patients have reported initial symptoms like breathing difficulty, coughing, chest pain and fatigue, officials said, which gradually grow worse and have resulted in hospitalisation. Some patients also experienced diarrhoea and vomiting.

A large percentage of illnesses have been in young people, reflecting the popularity of vaping among youth.

— Talal Ansari has contributed to this article.

Write to Kimberly Chin at [email protected]