The Northwestern Health Unit fully supports a provincial directive to require hospitals to surrender information related to severe cases of vaping-related pulmonary disease.
Health Minister Christine Elliott made the order this week after a report of a serious vaping-related illness in London, as well as hundreds of cases in the United States, including seven deaths.
Elliott adds the information must not identify patients, but will be used to give better data about this issue which is greatly affecting young people.
Dr. Ian Gemmill is the local Acting Medical Officer of Health and he says there is mounting evidence linking vaping to serious short and long-term health complications.
Gemmill says it seems almost mad to put unknown chemicals into our lungs.
He stresses it’s essential to life that we get oxygen to pass into our blood stream.
Gemmill stresses “Not taking up vaping or stopping vaping at this point in time is the best possible advice I can give until we know more. I know that vaping can be helpful to smokers who are trying to quit, but nobody else should be engaged in this at the best of times. And at this time I suggest that nobody do it.”
Gemmill notes the danger right now is that the ingredients in various vaping cartridges can be so very variable, that it’s really hard to sort out who’s been exposed to what.
He states more information and data is needed to understand the potential scope of the issue.
“This is not an infectious disease, so there’s no intervention that we would take. This is a disease that is caused by the fact that people have adopted a behaviour which exposes them to potentially toxic chemicals that have a negative influence on our lungs.”
Health Canada says the symptoms include cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue and vomiting.
A survey done for Health Canada found that one-fifth of high school students report using vaping products, as are one-seventh of children aged 13 and 14.
To hear more from Dr. Ian Gemmill, visit the Audio link below.
