Vaping: UK experts defend safety in face of US lung injury cases

The outbreak of lung injuries in the US among people using electronic cigarettes should not deter UK smokers from using them, a panel of experts told a briefing at the Science Media Centre in London. The danger, they said, was less from vaping than from the fear of vaping, which could discourage smokers from using the best currently available aid to quitting.

Although in the US there have now been 1299 alleged cases and 26 deaths across 49 states, in the UK only a single victim has been identified after nearly 10 years of e-cigarette use. Nor is there evidence from the yellow card scheme run by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency of a hidden epidemic.

The US Centres for Disease Control has now given the condition its own name: EVALI, for “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury.” But unlike other acronymic diseases such as HIV or SARS, which knew no borders, EVALI is so far corralled within the US, for reasons that remain conjectural. …