Minor from Visayas is PHL's first case of vaping-related illness —Duque

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday confirmed the first reported lung injury related to vaping or use of electronic cigarettes in the country.

In a text message to GMA News, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said the victim was a "16-year-old female from the Visayas" who started smoking in March this year.

Duque did not give other details.

Meanwhile, a report by Super Radyo dzBB's Sam Nielsen said the information was retrieved from a private pediatric pulmonologist who said the female from Central Visayas had an E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI).

The attending physician of the victim said the girl was admitted on October 21 after she experienced difficulty in breathing and needed to be put on oxygen, and was soon brought at the intensive care unit.

The DOH report revealed the patient has already been discharged, but the agency is still coordinating with the doctor who examined the 16-year-old.

The DOH, in October, called for a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes in the country, claiming these devices posed health risks to users.

DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the department will support legislation aimed at banning e-cigarettes that enable users to inhale addictive nicotine liquids.

A study in the United States found that even though e-cigarettes are seen as an alternative to regular cigarettes, young adults who occasionally smoked conventional cigarettes smoked more of them if they also used e-cigarettes.

In July, the World Health Organization warned that e-cigarettes were "undoubtedly harmful" and should be regulated.

The Food and Drug Administration had moved to regulate the manufacture, distribution and use of e-cigarettes but the courts in Pasig and Manila stopped its implementation for the meantime following a suit filed by two companies. — with Jamil Santos/KBK/RSJ, GMA News