The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed this week that those who died as a result of a mysterious outbreak of vaping-related lung injury often used products exclusively containing THC.
According to numbers from the CDC, among 19 such deaths with data available on what substances had been vaped, 63% reported exclusive use of products containing THC, 84% reported any use of these products, 37% reported vaping products containing nicotine, and 16% said they’d only vaped nicotine-containing products.
Just 2% of cases, but almost a quarter of deaths, happened among people over 65. Of 29 deaths analyzed in the new report, the median age was 45, and 59% were male.
The youngest death was 17, and the oldest 75.
There have been 36 vaping-related deaths identified in 24 states and Washington, DC.
Three each from California, Indiana and Minnesota; two each from Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Oregon and Tennessee; and one each from Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington, DC.
“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.”
