The Vermont Department of Health has opened investigations into four possible cases of vaping-related respiratory illness. But as recently as a week ago, that number stood at just one.
Of the four cases, state epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said, two involved adults (people over 18), and two involved minors. She said the department has also determined that one of the cases did not fall under the guidelines for what constitutes a vaping-related severe respiratory illness, though she couldn’t give specifics as to why.
“There’s certain criteria it needs to meet in order to be counted as a confirmed or probable case,” Kelso said. “The case definition includes a history of vaping in the past 90 days, as well as very specific findings on either an X-ray or a CT scan, along with other clinical criteria.”
The Health Department put out the official call for health care providers to report suspected cases of the illness on Aug. 29. The reports of suspected cases began that date, though officials are also looking back through medical records to try to determine possible earlier cases.
That comes as at least six people across the United States have died from the illness, prompting President Donald Trump to call vaping a “problem,” and announce plans to ban flavored vaping products nationwide.
“Not only is it a problem overall, but really specifically with respect for children,” Trump said Wednesday. “We may very well have to do something very, very strong about it.”
Kelso said it’s still a very new illness that health officials both in Vermont and at the national level are learning a lot about. However, she said, it’s important to note that the illness doesn’t date back as far as the rise of vaping itself. She noted that although Vermont has relatively high rates of vaping, its rates for the illness remain fairly low.
“The state has positive IDs of cases going back to spring of this year,” she said. “Prior to that, we don’t really think this was happening.”
She said it’s possible that health officials will be able to identify exactly what product or device is causing the problem, though she noted, the problem might not be that specific.
“States are all asking the same, or very similar, questions,” Kelso said. “They’re asking detailed information about products used, brands used, methods of payment. And we try to learn from that.”
Kelso said both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Vermont Department of Health will be reporting updated numbers regularly as they continue to monitor the problem.
