The state health department is reporting another new case of vaping-related lung illness in Montana. The Department of Public Health and Human Services says a person in their 20s from Cascade County was hospitalized in January.
The recovering patient has a known history of vaping, but state epidemiologist Laura Williamson says health officials don’t have many details on the person’s vaping habits.
"However, we do know that this individual reported vaping marijuana, which is consistent with what we’re finding nationally with the 2,700 EVALI patients across the country. Most of them report vaping THC-containing products, or nicotine products, or both."
EVALI stands for e-cigarette or vaping product-use associated lung injury, and is the name the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given to the newly identified disease.
State officials have tallied seven illnesses and one death connected to EVALI in Montana. The CDC says just over 2,700 people nationally have been hospitalized due to EVALI, and 60 people have died from the disease. The outbreak peaked in September of 2019.
