Children poisoned by reusing electronic cigarettes

According to the family, the child had used e-cigarettes for about a year and had stopped for about three months. However, after being persuaded by friends, the child started using them again and soon after, abnormal symptoms such as vomiting, talking nonsense, and irritation appeared. The family quickly took the child to the local hospital for first aid, then transferred him to the National Children's Hospital for emergency care.

Here, the child was diagnosed with drug poisoning/e-cigarette use. The patient was given intravenous fluids and intensive treatment according to the protocol. After two days of treatment, the child's health condition stabilized and he was discharged from the hospital.

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), also known as vapes, vaporizers, or e-hookahs, are handheld, battery-powered electronic devices that heat a liquid solution containing nicotine and other chemicals, creating an aerosol (also known as aerosol) that the user inhales.

E-cigarettes contain a certain amount of nicotine. This is a strong addictive substance that can easily make children anxious, restless, and lose control of their behavior. In particular, nicotine negatively affects the developing brain, impairing children's memory, concentration, and learning ability. In addition, some studies have shown that e-cigarettes also increase the risk of angina, heart failure, stroke, and decreased immunity and resistance.

The solution used usually contains nicotine mixed with propylene glycol and glycerin - when heated, it can create lung irritants and even cancer. Worryingly, the concentration of nicotine in the product is unclear, easily leading to overdose and acute poisoning. The current situation is that some children when using e-cigarettes also mix active ingredients containing drugs or stimulants.

Although e-cigarettes have been completely banned in Vietnam since January 1, 2025 according to the law, reality shows that e-cigarettes still infiltrate the school environment.

With sophisticated camouflage designs such as pens, USBs, lipsticks, etc., e-cigarettes can easily fool parents and teachers, allowing students to use them without being detected. More alarmingly, many cases are mixed with liquid drugs of unknown origin, posing a risk of addiction and seriously affecting the health, especially the developing brains of minors.

According to experts, e-cigarettes, like traditional cigarettes, affect children, women and passive smokers. The use of thousands of attractive e-cigarette flavors such as vanilla, perfume, fruit (banana, mango, strawberry, orange, apple, grape), candy (like cherry candy, cotton candy, chocolate candy, mint) ... not only attracts main smokers but also passive smokers feel excited and even addicted.

The chemicals in e-cigarette smoke can also stick to sofas, curtains, beds, blankets, sheets, pillows, clothes, and surfaces of objects, which can have negative effects on health. Using e-cigarettes also poses a risk of fire and explosion, especially when charging the battery.

Doctors recommend that to prevent children from using e-cigarettes, there needs to be close coordination between schools, families and the children themselves. Schools should strengthen healtheducation communication, teach children refusal skills and organize extracurricular activities to help students reduce stress. Families need to care, listen and closely monitor their children, coordinate with the school to detect early signs of abnormalities for timely and effective intervention.

HAI NGO

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tre-ngo-doc-vi-tai-su-dung-thuoc-la-dien-tu-post885010.html