Vaping Deaths, Disease ‘US-Specific Phenomenon’, Experts Say

Suspect products are not widely used in other countries.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 – The vaping-linked lung injuries that have killed 29 and sickened over 1,000 people in the United States are likely to be uncommon in other countries that generally don’t use dubious products, experts said.

Reuters reported experts in toxicology and addiction as saying that the 1,299 confirmed and probable American cases of lung disease associated with e-cigarettes and vaping were a “US-specific phenomenon”, without evidence of similar illnesses occurring elsewhere.

“What’s happening in the US is not happening here (in Britain), nor is it happening in any other countries where vaping is common,” said John Britton, a professor and respiratory medicine consultant and director of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies at Nottingham University.

“It’s a localised problem.”

US officials have said there may be more than one cause for the cases of the lung illness in the country. They explained that vaping oils containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, could be the cause.

“It would be a great shame if people were deterred from using e-cigarettes because of what’s happening in the U.S.,” Ann McNeill, a professor of tobacco addiction at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, pointed out.

Malaysia is mulling a total e-cigarette sales ban.

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