{"id":3019,"date":"2021-10-05T09:55:06","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T22:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/dakota-s-doctors-thought-she-might-have-covid-but-it-was-vaping-that-put-her-in-icu-e-v-a-l-i-here-2\/"},"modified":"2021-10-05T09:55:06","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T22:55:06","slug":"dakota-s-doctors-thought-she-might-have-covid-but-it-was-vaping-that-put-her-in-icu-e-v-a-l-i-here-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/dakota-s-doctors-thought-she-might-have-covid-but-it-was-vaping-that-put-her-in-icu-e-v-a-l-i-here-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dakota&#8217;s doctors thought she might have COVID, but it was vaping that put her in ICU (E.V.A.L.I is now Here)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By the Specialist Reporting Team&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/alison-branley\/6470766\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alison Branley<\/a>&nbsp;and national medical reporter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/sophie-scott\/167202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sophie Scott<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dakota Stephenson started vaping&nbsp;to help manage her anxiety. When 15-year-old Dakota Stephenson first started vaping with friends after school she never imagined it could have potentially deadly consequences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key points:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>A teenager ended up in ICU with a condition doctors suspect was linked to regular vaping<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>She is now&nbsp;speaking publicly to warn others about the potential dangers of vapes<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>There are mounting concerns about vaping advertisements targeting teens through social media<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That&#8217;s exactly what happened when the Sydney teen ended up in intensive care last September, with what doctors believe was EVALI, a new lung illness emerging among vape users.<\/p>\n<p>EVALI stands for E-cigarette or Vaping product use-Associated Lung Injury, a lung condition first reported in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>At the peak of her condition, Dakota was partially ventilated on full-face oxygen in the intensive care unit at the Children&#8217;s Hospital at Randwick for three days, almost drowning because of her fluid-filled lungs.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignright size-full wp-image-1260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vaping.jpg\" alt=\"Dakota Stephenson lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask covering most of her face.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" style=\"margin-left: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px; float: right;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vaping.jpg 862w, https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vaping-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vaping-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dakota Stephenson was partially ventilated in the intensive care unit&nbsp;for three days.<\/p>\n<p>Her mother, Natasha Stephenson, said whenever Dakota took the mask off she was visibly struggling for breath so badly doctors initially thought she had COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She needed a high-flow face mask, she couldn&#8217;t breathe without it,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was horrendous.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dakota had been rushed to hospital by ambulance just days before when back pain and trouble urinating turned into vomiting, rigours, rapid heartbeat and a temperature as high as 39 degrees.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was really struggling to breathe. She got worse and worse,&#8221; Ms Stephenson said.<\/p>\n<p>Within hours Dakota became hypoxic with not enough air getting into her lungs and all signs pointed to pneumonia in both lungs.<\/p>\n<p>It was then she revealed to her mother that she had been secretly vaping for the past seven months, up to three times a week.<\/p>\n<p>It is&nbsp;thought Dakota Stephenson&#8217;s is the only suspected case of EVALI reported in Australia to date.<\/p>\n<p>Dakota told the ABC she first started vaping in early 2020 as a way to manage her emotions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They kind of calmed me down in a way, like it was soothing to my anxiety,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The colours were just intriguing \u2014 all of it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Within weeks the high school student started graduating to cartridges that also contained nicotine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;It looks so innocent&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dakota was released from hospital after a week, but months later the previously fit teen still struggled with basic cardiovascular exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Her mother said she narrowly escaped permanent injury with some nodules still showing up on lung scans months later.<\/p>\n<p>Dakota said she was speaking out to warn other teenagers about what she believes are the potential risks of vaping.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It looks so innocent but it could kill you. It&#8217;s so scary,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Stephenson said she was shocked to learn her daughter had been secretly vaping, saying neither she nor Dakota&#8217;s father smoked and were very anti-smoking.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The hardest part was definitely when they said they had to take her to the Children&#8217;s Hospital,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Words can&#8217;t describe as a parent how it made me feel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For complete story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-10-04\/vaping-warnings-after-teenager-lung-injury-icu-visit\/100508090\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-10-04\/vaping-warnings-after-teenager-lung-injury-icu-visit\/100508090\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2021-10-04\/vaping-warnings-after-teenager-lung-injury-icu-visit\/100508090<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/VapingInfoSheet10-07-20.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button\">For Further Resources on Vaping Check out Vaping Crisis Info Sheet<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the Specialist Reporting Team&#8217;s&nbsp;Alison Branley&nbsp;and national medical reporter&nbsp;Sophie Scott Dakota Stephenson started vaping&nbsp;to help manage her anxiety. When 15-year-old Dakota Stephenson first started vaping with friends after school she never imagined it could have potentially deadly consequences. Key points: A teenager ended up in ICU with a condition doctors suspect was linked to regular [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parent-program"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}