Doctors in Brussels suspect that a teenager who was hospitalised with breathing problems and died after falling into a coma could be the first person in Belgium to die from using an electronic cigarette.
Doctor Luc-Marie Jacquet of the Saint-Luc university clinic in Brussels said that they thought that an 18-year-old patient, identified as Raphaël, had died from pulmonary complications brought on by his vaping habit.
"We suspect that inhalation from the e-cigarette is responsible for the pulmonary affliction and the subsequent death of Raphaël," Jacquet told RTL Info, adding: "This is only a suspicion, because tests capable of establishing a diagnosis do not exist — but we have excluded other known causes for lung damage of this kind."
The 18-year-old was admitted to the clinic on 4 October after spending "all night coughing," his dad, identified as Thierry, said, according to the outlet.
On the night of 9 to 10 October, Raphaël went into respiratory distress, his father explained, and was placed on an artificial coma on 10 October after his lungs stopped working.
The e-cigarette was given to Raphaël as a gift to use with a CBD filling to help with his sleeping problems, according to HLN, with the teen's father saying that he had only been using it for around two weeks, and that his brother and mother had used it as well but had not experienced complications.
"It seems logical to urge extreme caution when using an e-cigarette," Dr. Jacquet told RTL, adding that they were still waiting to hear back on certain tests.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
