New Mexico reports three new cases of lung injury from vaping

Nov. 14--The New Mexico Department of Health has reported three new cases of severe lung injury related to the use of electronic cigarettes, bringing the state's total number of vaping illnesses to 20.

State health officials said all of the cases reported so far have required hospital stays, and 13 were serious enough that patients were admitted to intensive care units. The illness, called EVALI -- for "e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury" -- can develop over a few days or several weeks, with symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, chills and weight loss.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Landen said such symptoms could be from inhaling vitamin E acetate, a compound found in many foods and skincare products. While it isn't harmful when ingested or applied to skin, he said, the substance can be toxic when inhaled.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found the substance, often used as a compound for diluting vaping products, at injury sites in lungs.

"Vitamin E acetate is an oil that's a similar consistency to the THC oil, and it's not something you want in your lungs," Landen said, referring to tetrahydrocannabinol, a psychoactive component in marijuana, which also can be consumed through vaping. "It damages them. That seems to be what the issue is."

The CDC has cautioned on its website that no single compound or ingredient in vaping products has emerged as the cause of lung injuries, and the agency believes more than one compound is causing this year's outbreak.

"Many different substances and product sources are still under investigation," the website said.

Landen said that could be an overstatement.

"It possibly could be more than one compound," he said. "What is being seen pretty clearly in all the human samples that were tested is vitamin E acetate. That's the common denominator."

In interviews with the New Mexico Department of Health, only three of the patients with reported cases of lung injury from vaping said they use only nicotine. The rest reported THC use via vaping.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said the department is discouraging New Mexico residents from consuming THC products by vaping.

"Case numbers are rising in New Mexico and nationwide," Kunkel said, adding there is concern that additional chemicals can be added easily to THC vaping cartridges.

Landen said none of the New Mexico dispensaries that carry THC products for the state's Medical Cannabis Program use vitamin E acetate in their vaping cartridges.

"Our Medical Cannabis Program has checked with the producers that provided THC cartridges under the authority of the Department of Health, and they have not been using vitamin E acetate," he said.

"... They weren't using it before this outbreak, and they're not using it currently."

Studies in other states with larger outbreaks show people who use THC vaping products are at higher risk of the illness, however.

"There's a lot of emphasis nationally, that the majority are associated with use of illicit or off-the-street THC vaping products," he said. "Nobody's making the claim that it's only those products."

Thirty-nine deaths have been reported to the CDC in 24 states and the District of Columbia out of 2,051 cases of severe lung injury due to vaping. No deaths have been reported in New Mexico.

State health officials recommend that anyone experiencing chest pain or trouble breathing after vaping seek immediate medical attention.

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