A children's health expert has warned that young people are ending up in hospital with “lung collapse” and “lung bleeding” after using illegally-sold vapes.
This comes as NHS data has revealed that 40 youngsters under the age of 19 were admitted to hospital in the past year from vaping. Among this alarming figure, were 15 children aged nine or under, which is up from 12 the previous year and two the year before that.
Paediatric chest physician Professor Andy Bush confessed to being “absolutely horrified” by the statistics, adding: "Young children are being exposed to substances of addiction, substances that are toxic and some of the toxicity is not known.”
Speaking to Sky News, the expert highlighted that vaping could pose more risks for children than smoking. He said: "If a teenager starts smoking cigarettes, probably the worst that's going to happen to them is they're going to be sick and throw up behind the bike shed.
"The acute use of e-cigarettes can put them in hospital, can put them in intensive care, things like lung bleeding, lung collapse and air leak, the lungs filling up with fat."
Professor Bush is one of many experts who are concerned about the health implications on children. Dr McKean, a doctor at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, said they were seeing a rising number of youngsters developing dangerous lung conditions related to vaping.
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The vice president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) also called for a ban on disposable e-cigarettes as the organisation warned that “youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic”.
He explained that vapes can be “addicting” for children as they contain high doses of nicotine. The devices are known to cause respiratory problems like shortness of breath, lung inflammation, chest pain and even, in severe cases, respiratory failure.
Dr McKean told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “We are now seeing children who are presenting to hospital and to clinics who have got breathing problems related to vaping, we believe.
“We know that disposable vapes are the main vapes children are using. We've seen a disturbing rise in the number of children and young people vaping.”
He added: “Vaping was first designed to enable people who were addicted to cigarette smoking to come off cigarette smoking and there's no doubt that if you buy legally carefully produced vapes that it's likely to be a lot less harmful than cigarette smoking.”
The doctor, who has worked as a respiratory consultant for 21 years, warned that smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and disease in the UK.
“Cigarettes are the one legal consumer product that if used as recommended by the manufacturer will kill most of their users,” he explained.
“We know this because we have 60+ years of research and data on cigarette use on a population level.”
However, research on widespread e-cigarette use is minimal as the devices haven’t been available on shelves for a long time.
“What we do know is that these products are not risk-free, are likely to be damaging for developing young lungs and are also terrible for our environment. This is a lose, lose situation", he warned.
NHS England Chief Amanda Pritchard said the latest data is “seriously concerning” because young people see vaping as harmless due to “their deliberately appealing flavours”.
The devices are often brightly coloured, flavoured like sweets or fruit, and resemble make-up or pens. They are also cheap, costing around £5 each for a disposable vape.
Amanda added: “At least two people in every year 10 classroom have vaped at one point or another. But its use can lead to lung damage so it’s really important we nip this in the bud. We need to keep young people out of hospital and prevent future health issues."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced plans to crack down on the illegal sale of vapes to children, which includes a £3million "illicit vape enforcement squad".
This comes as a shocking Mirror investigation revealed how vapes with as much nicotine as 100 cigarettes were being illegally sold to children.
The Mirror sent a secret shopper, aged just 13, into 16 retailers in Manchester and almost half sold her vapes despite it being illegal. It’s against the law to sell vapes with nicotine to under-18s.
