EVALI: The New Medical Term For The “Vape-Related” Lung Illness

Source from:  VapingPost 10/18/2019

As the number of lung disease cases has sadly reached 1,299 across the US, the CDC has released an official interim guidance for clinicians, which has termed the condition as EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury).

“When we first distributed advice for clinicians back in late August, the guidance was based on limited experience clinicians had caring for a relatively small number of patients,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, principal deputy director of the CDC. She pointed out that new cases are still popping up. “We are not seeing meaningful dropoff in new cases.”

Additionally, added another CDC officer, given the fact that the flu season is fast approaching, it will be harder to diagnose the condition. “It will become increasingly difficult to fully exclude the possibility of infection,” said Ram Koppaka, MD, PhD, a medical officer in the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Consider “that any given individual may have lung injury, they may have an infection, or they may have both,” he added. “It may be necessary upfront to treat for more than one process at a time while testing is done, while a patient’s course is followed to provide a better indication which of those possibilities is at play.”  Enditem