News and Events

The diagnostic/treatment algorithm, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, complements and expands upon early guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for managing the condition. It was created by pulmonary and toxicology experts at the University of Rochester and the New York State Department of Health.

"This illness has been vexing for physicians across the country and we continue to see people suffering from the dangerous effects of vaping," said Daniel Croft, M.D., M.P.H., pulmonologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Strong Memorial Hospital. "We expect the guide will help minimize missed diagnoses as cold and flu season ramps up."

"As the Department of Health continues our investigation into this ongoing outbreak of vaping-associated illnesses, we are in close contact with health care providers across the state and are pleased to provide them with a new tool to help with proper diagnoses,"said Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, M.D., J.D. "We continue to urge New Yorkers to stop using vape products until the investigation is complete."

The nationwide epidemic began in the spring and to date, the CDC has charted more than 2,000 cases, including 40 deaths. The cause of the illness remains a mystery, though many patients used products containing THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. Patients experience devastating lung injury, some requiring long hospitalizations and treatment in the intensive care unit, followed by a slow recovery.

University of Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center members Daniel Croft, M.D., M.P.H., and Irfan Rahman, Ph.D., were featured on a Today Show segment about vaping-related lung injury. In the segment, Rahman is shown working in his lab while Croft discussed the symptoms associated with this condition.

Rahman uses cell, mouse, and human studies to investigate how flavoring chemicals used in vaping devices affect lung health. He also analyzes vaping liquid collected from patients and hospitals around the world to better understand its chemical makeup. Croft, a clinician researcher who focuses on inhalation toxicology, helps interpret the clinical relevance of findings from the lab and collaborates on a study to better understand respiratory effects in people who vape.

Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine researchers are investigating illnesses linked to cannabis vaping. "When the oil is heated, it forms an aerosol that's able to travel into the lung," says Daniel Croft, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine. "From that very hot initial temperature, as it cools it can condense into the larger droplets and then stick to the walls and then coat the walls."

Dr. Croft was featured for this story on NBC Nightly News

John Looney, MD, Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo, MD. PhD, Steve Georas, MD, Sandy Khurana, MD, and Lisa Beck, MD have been awarded a WAO Center of Excellence. The WAO provides educational outreach programs, symposia and lectureships in 100 countries around the world. Centers of Excellence are tasked with intensifying and accelerating multi-disciplinary scientific and clinical research, education, and training in allergy, asthma and clinical immunology.