KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 – The United States’ nationwide death toll due to lung illnesses related to vaping habits has reached 13.
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Oregon all have reported one death each since Tuesday.
This brings the fatality count to 13 in 10 states, two in California, two in Kansas, two in Oregon and one each in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
Confirmed and probable cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use in 46 states and the US Virgin Islands is also up to 805 cases, from 530 recorded last week.
“The numbers are worse than we could have even imagined,” Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, chair of the House Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy and leading congressional investigation into the youth vaping epidemic, said in an emailed statement to CNN.
Many states are moving to prohibit the sales of e-cigarettes following the outbreak.
“Without knowing the specific cause of the vaping-associated illness, discontinuing use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices is the best prevention against becoming ill,” according to a press release from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
