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CDC activates Emergency Operations Center to investigate vaping-associated lung injury


 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has activated its Emergency Operations Center for the purpose of improving multiple agencies’ responses to the current investigation into two cases of lung injury associated with vaping.

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This move allows the CDC “to provide increased operational support” to CDC staff to meet the evolving challenges of the outbreak of vaping-related injuries and deaths, says a statement from the CDC.

“CDC has made it a priority to find out what is causing this outbreak,” noted CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, in the statement.

The agency “continues to work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to collect information about recent e-cigarette product use, or vaping, among patients and to test the substances or chemicals within e-cigarette products used by case patients,” according to the statement.

The CDC provided email addresses and site addresses for gathering information and communicating about e-cigarettes.

Information about the collection of e-cigarettes for possible testing by FDA can be obtained through contacting FDAVapingSampleInquiries@fda.hhs.gov.

To communicate with CDC about this public health response, clinicians and health officials can contact LungDiseaseOutbreak@cdc.gov.

More information on the current outbreak related to e-cigarettes is available at https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html.

General information on electronic cigarette products, can be found at www.cdc.gov/e-cigarettes.

Individuals concerned about health risks of vaping should consider refraining from e-cigarette use while the cases of lung injury are being investigated, the CDC said.

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