As news reports roll in and share details from patients all over the country, the first confirmed case of vaping-related lung illness has been identified in Alaska.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services shared the news about the lung illness. Alaska was previously the only state in which a person with serious injuries from using e cigarettes had not been reported. The Alaska resident with the e cigarette lung damage was reportedly a user of both regular vaping and THC products and began to develop respiratory issues in November.

Around the country, deaths and illnesses associated with e cigarette lung damage have continued to climb amidst an investigation into what’s causing these issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been active in evaluating different vaping products in an effort to figure out what similarities are shared with all these cases of lung illnesses.

The latest date for which numbers were available, Nov. 20, reportedly showed that the e cigarette lung damage and related illnesses had impacted over 2,000 people in the U.S. Vaping was also connected to up to 47 deaths at that point.

The majority of those cases had to do with e cigarettes and vaping devices with THC inside. It’s also believed that a thickening agent used with e cigs known as vitamin e acetate is at least a contributing source for lung illnesses.

As many as 29 patients reportedly had traces of vitamin E acetate in their lungs in association with the illness.

The most recent guidance from the American Lung Association discourages people from using e cigarettes at all, even though the full source of the lung illnesses is not yet known. The national president of that organization advised that e cigarettes are not safe and are known to cause irreversible lung damage to users.

The website of the ALA also states that anyone who begins to experience unexplained lung-related side effects should report these concerns to their doctor immediately. Many people who have developed lung problems have had to be hospitalized as a result of these serious issues.

Although the users who have come down with vaping illness used different kinds of products, the CDC reports that there is one brand of THC-containing products in particular that appeared more often. The brand is Dank Vapes, and the FDA says that these products were used widely by people around the country and that many of the items sold under that brand were counterfeit THC-containing products.

Even though vitamin E acetate has been named as a chemical of concern, it’s not yet known whether other ingredients have a damaging effect. The CDC says that they cannot rule out the possibility of other ingredients and chemicals.

Any consumers who think that their lung injuries or illnesses were due to the use of e cigarettes should not underestimate the potential damage this could have on their system. Those who have already suffered might have grounds to initiate a lawsuit of their own against the makers of e cigarette devices with the help of an attorney.