(WVLT) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new information about vaping-related illnesses and death Monday.
According to CNN, people who died as a result of vaping-related lung injuries often used products exclusively containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana.
The CDC said among the 19 deaths reported, including two from Tennessee, 63 percent reported exclusive use of products containing THC, 84 percent reported any use of these products, 37 percent reported vaping products containing nicotine and 16 percent said they’d only vaped nicotine-containing products.
Two percent of the cases, about a quarter of the deaths, happened to people over the age of 65, the report said. According to the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), the median age in Tennessee for vaping-related illnesses was 24 with 79 percent of patients being under 35.
The girlfriend of one of the Tennessee people who died due to vaping-related causes told CBS affiliate WTVF that he vaped using cartridges of THC or CBD. The other Tennessee death due to vaping has not been identified.
As of October 22, nationwide, there were 1,604 lung injury cases associated with e-cigarette products, the CDC said. The TDH reported 57 cases of illness.
Those impacted are „mostly young, white males,” the CDC reported. Patients in Tennessee are 68 percent male, the TDH reported.
„It is evident from today’s report that these lung injuries are disproportionately affecting young people,” CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield said in a statement Monday. „As CDC receives additional data, a more defined picture of those impacted is taking shape. These new insights can help bring us a step closer to identifying the cause or causes of this outbreak.”
To keep up with vaping-related incidents and numbers in Tennessee, go here.
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