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Eddie Sullivan should have been preparing for his next year of high school. Instead, the 17-year-old from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, nearly died from a vaping, said his mother at NBC10.
"I just did it because everyone did it," said Sullivan.
He was taken to the local children's hospital a few weeks ago after complaining of chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. He said that it was as if only one lung was working. Sullivan's doctor said it could have been a lot worse.
"He was about to be sedated or in a coma," said Dr. Nick Slamon, director of the Pediatric Critical Care Scholarship at the Alfred I. DuPont Children's Hospital of Wilmington, Nemours. in Delaware. "He was very sick."
According to Slamon, the difficult breathing was the result of chemical pneumonitis or inflammation of lung tissue. To help Sullivan breathe, he received mechanical ventilation through a mask.
"Vaping is dangerous because (…) it warms the liquid to steam and this vapor can heat some of the chemicals into toxic products," said Slamon. "This is not a healthy alternative to smoking."
Sullivan spent 14 days in the hospital, his football season being over even before he started. Several weeks later, he is still out of breath by climbing stairs, he said.
Sullivan's mother, Geri Sullivan, initially declared that she was angry at her son because she had defeated her, but now hopes that this will serve as a lesson for her son. other teenagers.
"Understand that it's something that is a little out of control right now," she said. "He must be stopped."
Sullivan is one of many recent medical emergencies involving popular electronic smoking or vaping devices.
Last week, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they are studying 215 possible cases in 25 states. All cases involve adolescents or adults who have used electronic cigarettes or other vaping devices. Symptoms of lung disease include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.
The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration have warned the public not to buy vaping products on the street. And officials have recommended to people concerned about health risks "to consider not using electronic cigarette products".
Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement that the government "is using all the tools we have to shed light on this deeply troubling epidemic."
Electronic cigarettes generally heat a flavored nicotine solution in an inhalable aerosol. The products have been used in the United States for more than a decade and are generally considered safer than traditional cigarettes because they do not generate all the carcinogenic byproducts of burnt tobacco.
According to some experts, some vaping products contain other potentially harmful substances, including flavoring chemicals and oils used to vaporize marijuana.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday decided to make her state the first to ban flavored electronic cigarettes, accusing businesses of using candy flavors and misleading advertising to "hook children to nicotine." ".
Last November, New York began taking steps to ban the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes, but removed the proposed rules to allow more time for a legal review.
The federal and state governments are banning the sale of vaping products to minors, but data from a government poll shows that last year, one in five high school students in the United States reported doing vaping the previous month. Senior health officials, including the general surgeon, have described this trend as an epidemic.
The Whitmer announcement has drawn the praise of public health groups and critics of organizations that advocate for vaping.
"This shameless attempt to ban by the back door will close several hundred small businesses in Michigan and could return tens of thousands of ex-smokers to deadly combustible cigarettes," said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association.
"These companies and their customers are not going to get caught up in the fight and we look forward to supporting the legal actions that now seem necessary to protect the right of adults to access these harm reduction products."
He added that the ban would create a "massive" black market. He blamed the recent wave of lung disease on illegal vape pens containing THC, the compound that gives marijuana at a high level.
Health experts say that nicotine is harmful for brain development, and some researchers fear that drug-addicted teenagers will only end up with tobacco vaping.
The increase in the number of adolescents' vaping is mainly due to products based on flavored cartridges such as Juul. The odorless rechargeable device can be used discreetly in bathrooms, hallways and even classrooms.
Juul executives have disputed allegations that they would have marketed their products to teens, saying that they had taken unprecedented steps to combat the use of its electronic cigarettes by minors. The company closed its Facebook and Instagram pages and released its fruit and dessert pods from retail stores. Juul also supports federal legislation to increase the total number of tobacco products to 21 years, including e-cigarettes.
According to a government study, nearly 80% of underage teens who use electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products mentioned the aroma when they asked why they had taken the habit.
Electronic cigarettes, which have been available in the United States since 2007 and have grown to an industry of more than $ 6 billion a year, are battery-powered devices that typically heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable aerosol. Juul, launched in 2015, now controls about three-quarters of the US e-cigarette retail market.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
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