Vaping-related lung illness kills third person, may be a new ‘worrisome’ disease, officials say

WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials said Friday that a third person has died from a mysterious lung illness tied to vaping. There are now 450 possible cases in 33 states and one territory, three deaths, and one death under investigation, they said.

Amid the rising case counts, physicians and health officials in states with the earliest and largest number of cases published detailed descriptions of the acute lung disorder in people who vape in a series of articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and described the trend as "worrisome."

Although federal and state officials said the definitive cause of the illness remains unknown, "the severity of the illness and the recent increase in the incidence of this clinical syndrome indicates that these cases represent a new or newly recognized and worrisome cluster of pulmonary disease related to vaping," according to a report by health department officials in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Those states reported the earliest cases and conducted a joint investigation of 53 patients.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that no consistent e-cigarette products have been linked to the disorder, and that while some victims used marijuana-based products, some report using only nicotine products.

"We are getting a clearer focus, and the investigation is narrowing," said Ileana Arias, the acting deputy director for noninfectious diseases at CDC.

"We believe chemical exposure is likely associated with the illnesses," said Dana Meaney-Delman, who is heading CDC's lung injury response.

But no specific device or substance has been linked to all the cases, officials said. The Food and Drug Administration is analyzing samples collected from patients across the country who have fallen ill and is testing them for a broad range of chemicals, including nicotine, THC - the active ingredient in marijuana that produces the high - and "cutting agents" to dilute solutions and other substances.

This week, New York state and FDA labs told officials they found vitamin E acetate, an oil derived from vitamin E, in samples of marijuana products collected from patients who had been sickened by vaping.

The Indiana State Department of Health has reported the state's first vaping-related death. The person died "due to severe lung injury linked to a history of e-cigarette use or 'vaping,'" according to health officials.

The death was confirmed on Thursday and the patient was identified only as being over the age of 18.

Illinois and Oregon have also each reported a death.