MANILA – The Department of Health confirmed the country’s first reported case of lung injury related to vaping or use of electronic cigarettes.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the first recorded e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury patient was a 16-year-old female from Central Visayas. The unnamed victim, who was currently being treated at an undisclosed hospital, had been using an e-cigarette daily for four months since March.
Duque added that the information was retrieved from a private pediatric pulmonologist.
It was learned that the girl was admitted to the hospital on Oct. 21 after she experienced difficulty in breathing and needed to be put on oxygen, and was soon brought at the intensive care unit.
“The patient has already been discharged, but the DOH is still coordinating with the doctor who examined the 16-year-old,” the DOH report noted.
Duque has earlier called for a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes in the country, claiming these devices posed health risks to users.
E-cigarettes are seen as an alternative to regular cigarettes but the World Health Organization warned that e-cigarettes were “undoubtedly harmful” and should be regulated./PN
