TriCounty Health Department has the latest numbers on the lung illness outbreak linked to vaping. TriCounty Health Promotion Director Jacob Isaacson shared with Evans Family Media on the KVEL Newstalk Monday Forum that the youth vaping rate in the TriCounty Health District is around 13.5 percent while the youth smoking rate is around 5.9 percent. The Utah Department of Health’s most recent report is that there are 42 cases of serious lung illness linked to vaping reported in the state, with 14 more under investigation. The Utah Public Health Laboratory has tested a total of 39 products with about half of the samples collected from nicotine e-juices and half collected from THC cartridges. One hundred percent of the samples contained nicotine and none have shown unexpected compounds. Ninety percent of the THC cartridges contained Vitamin E acetate. “It is still unknown whether Vitamin E acetate is the underlying cause of this outbreak,” shares the Utah Department of Health. “The fact that these are unregulated products being sold on the streets along with this evidence of contamination, is cause for alarm and enough to urge Utahns not to vape.” Nationwide, the CDC reports that there have been 380 cases in 36 states with 6 reported deaths. The majority of Utah cases have been hospitalized though there have been no deaths. As of yet, there are no confirmed cases in the Uintah Basin. Symptoms of the lung illness include a cough, shortness of breath or chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, or abdominal pain. TriCounty Health recommends anyone that vapes and is experiencing any of these symptoms, to please seek medical attention. If you do currently vape, do not purchase any product on the street.
