The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and state and local health departments are investigating a multistate outbreak of severe e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).

Reported Cases

  Austin/Travis County State of Texas United States
Cases
19
241
2,711
Deaths
0
4
60

Updated as of February 3, 2020

Case Definition

Confirmed cases meet all of the following criteria:

  • Using an e-cigarette or dabbing within 90 days prior to symptom onset
  • Pulmonary infiltrate on plain film chest radiograph or ground-glass opacities on chest CT
  • Absence of pulmonary infection on initial work-up
  • No evidence in the patient’s medical records of alternative plausible diagnoses

For more information, clinicians can visit CDC.gov.

Symptoms

  • Coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain
  • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
  • Fatigue, fever, abdominal pain

Recommendations

  • Refrain from e-cigarette use while the investigation is ongoing.
  • Regardless of the investigation, youth, young adults, pregnant women, and adults who do not currently use tobacco products should never use e-cigarette products.
  • If you have recently used an e-cigarette product and experienced similar symptoms, seek medical attention immediately.

Education and Outreach

Learn more about e-cigarette product use and how to talk to your children.

To request a presentation for school staff, school administrators, or parents, please contact Live Tobacco-Free Austin.

For additional resources geared toward youth visit CATCH My Breath, a best practices youth e-cigarette and JUUL prevention program develop by UT Health, or ASPIRE, an evidence-based program developed by MD Anderson.