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Riley Hospital seeing more vaping-related illnesses reported

Posted at 9:23 PM, Sep 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-13 15:32:33-04

INDIANAPOLIS — There are growing concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes. Especially after a Hoosier's death was confirmed to be vaping-related.

Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health says almost one out of every three high school students has vaped in the last 30 days. The hospital says they've seen more reports of vaping-related illnesses in the last few months.

If you vape, or know someone who does, these are the symptoms of the potential problem you need to watch out for, according to Dr. Nadia Krupp:

"It acts a lot like a flu-like illness. It starts off with some chest pain, cough, some shortness of breath, maybe some overall fatigue, muscle aches, just feeling overall crummy, not necessarily fever though. We have had children who've had other organ system involved, not just lungs. We've had children who its affected their liver and their kidneys as well. That seems to be less common."

Riley Hospital for Children says traditional cigarettes impact your lungs differently than vaping or e-cigarettes. However, they say it's too early to tell if traditional cigarettes or vaping is worse for you.