(Bloomberg) -- The number of vaping-related lung-injury cases across the U.S. climbed to 1,080, up from 805 reported last week, in what a top health official said may be only “the tip of the iceberg.”
The number of deaths linked to the ailment also rose to 18 from 12, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Officials haven’t determined the cause of the outbreak or identified any single product or substance responsible for causing the injuries.
“The increasing number of lung injury cases we see associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping, is deeply concerning,” Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the escalating health threat this outbreak poses to the American public, particularly youth and young adults.”
The agency is working with the Food and Drug Administration and state health partners to investigate the cause or causes. A study published Wednesday by Mayo Clinic pathologists said the ailments are most likely caused by exposure to toxic chemicals.
On a call with reporters Thursday, Anne Schuchat, CDC principal deputy director, said that officials were still at the earliest days of understanding what was happening inside the lungs of sick vapers. In addition to testing the products that patients had used, officials are evaluating pathology specimens to get a better feel for the spectrum of lung injury that the patients experienced, she said.
“There may be a lot of different nasty things in e-cigarette or vaping products and they may cause different harms in the lung,” Schuchat said.
The CDC is investigating additional suspected vaping-related deaths.
”The data we are getting does not suggest that this has peaked,” Schuchat said.
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