Twelve people have died in the US after using e-cigarettes. In addition, there are 805 confirmed and probable injuries in connection with the replacement of the conventional cigarette, said the US health authority CDC on Thursday.
Most recently, the CDC had spoken of around 530 casualties and six deaths. According to a study in the "New England Journal of Medicine", there were 908 injured so far, 500 of them confirmed.
AP
The cause of the lung damage is still completely unclear. In Germany and throughout Europe, no similar increase in lung damage has been reported so far. The complaints seem to be limited to users in the US. According to German experts, e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than traditional cigarettes. (Read more about the background of the mysterious deaths here.)
Electric cigarettes that vaporize nicotine-containing liquid have gained tremendous popularity in the US and many other countries in recent years. In Germany, the compositions of the active ingredients of e-cigarettes are much stricter regulated than in the US. (Read here what you need to know about e-cigarettes.)
There, however, the deaths following the consumption of e-cigarettes had consequences: The state of Massachusetts had banned the sale of e-cigarettes on Wednesday completely.
Previously, a Düsseldorf court had the manufacturer Juul until further prohibited from selling his cartridges for e-cigarettes in Germany. In the US, the company recently changed management board - responding to growing criticism.