A Blue Mountain Grammar student collapsed and had a seizure in the school restrooms while vaping due to a massive dose of nicotine.
The school’s deputy principal and high school principal, Owen Laffin, wrote to the parents saying the student was perfectly healthy. The school had become increasingly aware of the increasing use of electronic cigarettes among students.
“Today I am writing to our entire community to highlight the extraordinary dangers of vapeo and to urge parents to talk about it with their children,” the letter said last Monday.
The vapors are flavored and are designed to appeal to young people. Credit: Sanghee Liu
“Last week, a perfectly healthy senior student collapsed in the restroom, suffered a prolonged seizure and was taken to hospital by ambulance after using a vaporizer. Medical evidence suggests that the seizure was caused by a massive dose of nicotine.
“While I am deeply grateful to say that the student has now recovered, the risk of head injury or hypoxia-induced brain damage is terrible to behold.”
Australian National University professor Emily Banks, a public health doctor and epidemiologist, said her team’s review of the global evidence on e-cigarettes found that the risks included seizures due to the toxicity of nicotine.
“These disposable devices are very strong and have high doses of nicotine,” he said. “Some of these pods have the nicotine equivalent of ten packs of cigarettes.”
Doctors in the emergency department were seeing people with nicotine-related seizures, but these incidents have not yet been captured in the data system. “There’s a project underway to look at poisoning and ways to count these things,” Professor Banks said.
“People feel sick, they may vomit, they may feel dizzy. Seizures are what most concern people. There has been a strange case of people with heart rhythm problems: it is one of the documented dangers. “A case of cardiac arrest has been reported, Professor Banks said.