School vape warning: Boy, 5, unwell weeks after puffing, Merlino says schools on alert

A Victorian father wants tougher restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes after his five-year-old son was taken to hospital after vaping with his brother and a seven-year-old classmate at school.

The five-year-old has struggled to breathe since ingesting the chemical-laced, fruit-flavoured nicotine vape. He had to be taken to hospital by ambulance last Friday after having a coughing fit so intense he vomited four times.

Nicotine vaping pens and fluid.Credit: Cole Bennetts

Education Minister James Merlino said he was aware of the case, warning there would be “severe repercussions” at schools if children were caught vaping on campus.

“I can tell you that our schools take a firm view on this. It is absolutely the wrong thing to do. It is harmful to children, and it is prohibited,” he said.

Father of two Steve told ABC Melbourne the e-cigarette his sons used allegedly belonged to the mother of a classmate. The boy took it to school and offered it to Steve’s children in the playground three weeks ago, saying it tasted “like grapes”.

“On pick-up with their mum, my seven-year-old pulled the vape out, and he said ‘Mummy, look what I’ve got’ and he sucked on it,” said Steve, who asked his surname be withheld for privacy reasons.

“I’d had discussions with my boys about peer pressure now that they’re at school, but vaping never came into the equation because we don’t see it in mainstream media.

“So when they were given the vape at school, they did not attribute that to a cigarette at all.”

Already prone to chest infections, the five-year-old son’s health soon deteriorated. He reportedly had coughing fits and made gurgling noises in his sleep.

He returned negative results for COVID-19 and did not show other cold symptoms.

Doctors have not attributed the five-year-old’s health concerns to vaping directly, but Steve said there was a lack of available medical research into the practice.

While the potential harms of vaping are still being studied, the practice has been linked overseas to cases of lung disease and deaths.

Lynette Jobson, the principal of Alamanda College in the Melbourne’s south-west, said there had been a worrying increase in students from the school vaping last year, with teenagers selling the vapes to each other in parks.

She has even heard reports of tobacconists illegally selling the devices to young teenagers.

(Vaping) is harmful to children, and it is prohibited.

Education Minister James Merlino

During COVID-19 lockdowns, Ms Jobson said rising numbers of students were meeting their friends in parks and vaping, prompting the school to run educational seminars for children and inform parents of the dangers of vaping in newsletters.

“The kids get really carried away with the flavours and the colours, it’s quite seductive to them and they don’t realise the danger,” she said.

Ms Jobson said most of the students caught vaping were in their early years at secondary school.

“They are usually tweens ... they are at that point in their life where they want to try new things,” she said.

Steve said the packaging of the vape had no instructions or warnings, listing just five ingredients. However, laboratory testing he commissioned found up to 21 chemicals in it, including nicotine and alcohol.

He urged Australian authorities to tighten e-cigarette legislation, and give greater powers for law enforcement agencies to prosecute those illegally selling the devices.

Barwon Health did not comment on the case of Steve’s children, but its emergency department director Belinda Hibble said e-cigarettes were flavoured and marketed to appeal to young people, including children.

Dr Hibble urged parents who vape to store their devices and liquids out of the reach of children. She said the liquids used in e-cigarettes were dangerous if swallowed, inhaled or spilled on skin.

The aerosols also contain and emit many harmful toxins and chemicals, including nicotine, which is highly addictive and can potentially harm the brain development of teenagers.

The Geelong case comes amid mounting concerns about Australian school-aged children being exposed to vaping and e‐cigarette videos on social media platforms TikTok and Instagram.

A study last year by University of Queensland researchers analysed more than 800 videos, finding 63 per cent portrayed vaping and e‐cigarettes positively.

Of particular concern for researchers was the lack of regulation on vaping videos on TikTok, meaning children of any age could watch them on the platform.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, e-cigarette use by Australians aged 14 or older more than doubled from 2016 to 2019, and is most common among people aged 18 to 24.

The Australian government introduced regulations requiring people to have a doctor’s prescription to buy e-cigarettes last October. The move was designed to prevent teenagers from taking up vaping, while still allowing people wishing to give up smoking to access the products.

A federal Department of Health spokeswoman said current restrictions would be reviewed in the second half of 2022. Any recommended reforms stemming from the review would then be considered, she said.

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