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 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also said
it plans to start testing lung tissue and fluids collected from
people who became sick in the outbreak. The CDC said the new testing
may lend insight into chemical exposures contributing to the
outbreak.
The CDC now reports 1,479 confirmed and probable U.S. cases of the
mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping, up from 1,299 a week
ago, an indication that the public health crisis has shown no sign
of slowing.
Last week, the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said
that while many patients became ill after vaping products containing
THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, some had only used
nicotine vape products. They said more than one root cause may be
behind the outbreak.
Investigators primarily have been testing the liquids in vape
products. Testing the aerosol produced after the liquids are heated
might show whether that causes a chemical reaction that produces a
toxic substance.
"They might be able to see components that we don't see in the raw
materials," said an official in the New York Health Department's
Wadsworth laboratory, which has been testing product samples for the
state.
A preliminary report seen by Reuters of vaping product samples
collected from Wisconsin patients and tested by the FDA showed that
more than half contained THC.Of the THC-containing products,
two-thirds also tested positive for Vitamin E acetate, a cutting
agent believed to be used to stretch the amount of THC oil, and an
early suspect in efforts to determine the cause of the injuries.
The results from Wisconsin match up with earlier reports from state
and federal officials. FDA officials last week said it found Vitamin
E acetate in 47% of the first 225 THC products it had analyzed.
Among the results, 14 products contained THC, nine of which also
tested positive for Vitamin E acetate, while another seven contained
nicotine.
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New York health officials have now tested nearly 200 products.
"We've got nicotine pens; we've got THC-containing pens; we've got
Vitamin E acetate associated with a lot of the THC pens, but we are
not in a position to say what's the cause of this dreadful illness,"
the official with New York's testing lab said.
Many of the products have no labels. Health officials in New York
and Utah said they suspect many THC products that do carry labels -
such as those under the Dank Vapes brand - are counterfeit.
In Utah, state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said the outbreak hit
a peak in July and has not let up.
More than 90% of patients reported having vaped THC, and only a
handful of cases denied using THC, Dunn said.
The state has tested 20 nicotine vape products and found nothing
unexpected. Of 19 THC-containing products, 89% showed evidence of
Vitamin E acetate.
None of the state officials said conclusively that the cutting agent
was the cause of the injuries, but it remains a suspect.
Dunn said THC is the common denominator in most of Utah's cases, and
until an exact cause is found, the state is focusing on getting
people to stop vaping THC.
"It's the only thing we have," she said.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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