CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More deaths are expected from vaping-related lung illnesses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Seven patients have died so far from the illnesses. Several of the victims also had underlying health conditions.
The CDC also reported federal investigators launched a criminal investigation into the soaring number of illnesses nationwide, which has risen by 200 cases in recent days.
The Food and Drug Administration's law enforcement arm, the Office of Criminal Investigations, began looking into these cases shortly after the illnesses began popping up.
"The focus of their work is to identify what is making people sick, as well as a focus on the supply chain," Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said to the media in a conference call.
The CDC updated their case numbers Thursday, reporting that there were 530 cases in 38 states, plus the U.S. Virgin Islands.
NBC Charlotte talked with a local Mom this week who's son spent time in the hospital for a suspected vaping-related illness.
"They showed us on the x-ray between his ribs," said Stephanie Walters, "there was this gel-lke substance."
The CDC is only counting cases that have been confirmed or are classified as highly probable because doctors have been able to rule out all other causes of lung illness.
The new CDC case count may, in fact, be an underestimate of the actual number of vaping-related pulmonary injuries. Doctors in nearly every state are examining far more cases. Overall, 45 state health departments have reported investigations of more than 700 possible cases.
Many of those patients report having vaped a variety of products, often including THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, before getting sick. Patients have experienced coughing, fever, trouble breathing, chest pain, vomiting, diarrhea and general fatigue. Some have needed to be hospitalized in intensive care units and placed on ventilators.
The CDC also provided a closer look at who is getting sick. A majority 67 percent are people between 18 and 34, with more than half under age 25.
Sixteen percent are minors under 18, and 17 percent are over 35. Nearly 3/4 are men.