5-Year-Old Hospitalized After Using Nicotine Vape In School; Parents Horrified

The parents of a 5-year-old boy in Australia are warning people of nicotine vapes after their child developed coughing and vomiting from using the device, which was brought to his primary school by his friend.

The boy’s father, identified only as Steven, told the local media an unidentified 7-year-old child from the Geelong primary school had brought their mother’s fruit-flavored vape and asked his son to try it. The disposable vape was reportedly empty by the end of the school day.

Three weeks after the incident, the 5-year-old began coughing and vomiting and was rushed to Geelong hospital. Doctors at the hospital said the child has developed pneumonia.

The parents said they were worried the child would have suffered horrific injuries due to the vape usage.

Since using the vape, the child had been coughing and struggling to breathe, Steven said, according to Herald Sun.

Seeing his child's condition, Steven is calling for tighter control on the fruit vapes that appeal to children.

“The innocence about it is so dangerous. His friend brought it to school and told him to suck on it because it tastes like grapes,” Steven told the Herald Sun. “The vape was empty by the time we picked them up from school.”

According to health experts, the perception that e-cigarettes are safe is incorrect, Bay 939 reported.

While nicotine vapes are currently available in Australia only via prescription, fruit-flavored vapes are widely available. These vapes can also contain small amounts of nicotine, which is believed to be harmful for young people.

Since the vaping or e-cigarette craze began in Australia, experts have continued to warn of its health effects.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the percentage of children, who began using e-cigarettes by age 14, has tripled since 2014.

In Australia, a Queensland man became one of the first official reported cases of a death directly linked to vaping. In February, the autopsy report revealed the death of the 71-year-old man was likely caused by his decade-long vaping habits.

In 2018, students were found using the JUUL, which is the most popular "stealth" vaping device. Stealth e-cigarettes are clever vapor devices disguised as USB sticks, mobile phones, car fobs, remote controls, and even asthma inhalers to hide the use from parents and teachers, Robert Jackler, founder of a Stanford research team into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, said at the time.