. i spoke with the chief medical officer, dr. emily chapman, who told me about a pattern of cases with a similar but unusual path. now, these teens at first had symptoms that suggested a viral or bacterial infection, but doctors determined their lungs had actually sustained some kind of acute injury and then the lungs began to fail. some of the teenagers even had to be put on ventilators to save their lives. dr. chapman says her doctors cannot yet identify a factor like a particular brand of e-cigarette, a drug or oil, but the state department of health says use of both nicotine and marijuana-based products were reported. at least 22 similar cases have been reported in wisconsin, illinois and minnesota in the past month. health officials are still investigating these cases and any possible connections. the american vaping association tells us that with approximately 10 million adults vaping nicotine each month without major issue, they say it appears much more likely that the products causing lung damage contain thc or illegal drugs, not nicotine. so far nobody can really say for

since june 28th. dr. emily chapman is chief medical officer at children's minnesota hospitals where they have had 15 confirmed or suspected cases. >> we can say that we're seeing a pattern of lung injury that we have not seen before. on the chest, ray the whole thing looks abnormal, and it looks abnormal equally throughout the entire long. >> reporter: it's still not clear which product or substances many of those individuals used. 19-year-old chance ammirata of florida wound up in the e.r. after using e-cigarettes. his doctor believes his vaping may have contributed to a lung injury. >> i just freaked out. they said your lung has collapsed. you have to go to surgery right now. >> reporter: they say it's thc or illegal drugs that are to plame for these acute lung injuries but health authorities say they're still investigating. they're still looking to see if there's a common thread that ties these cases together nationwide. for "cbs this morning: saturday," anna werner, chicago. >>> so scary. i talked with a doctor on cbsn about this and really one of the biggest concern about this

to know? >> i think they need to know i spoke to dr. chapman yesterday innnesota, they said they're seeing this pattern of inhalation injury that looks similar in all of the kids presenting, kids who previously had no lung disease, who were healthy, ages 15 to 23, who suddenly have shortness of breath, chest pain, and within days to a week are ending up on oxygen, on a ventilator. many have been discharged but the question is what are the long-term ramifications going to be to the lungs. >> parents don't even know their kids are vaping. the story in the news thrk parents are shocked as their child is in a medically induced coma that their kid is even vaping. >> we can no longer avoid this. it needs to be part of our understanding. we need to know the facts about what the problem are so we can explain that to our kids. we need to know what it looks like. >> like a little usb thing. >> like a pen, a usb. a lot can be easily concealed. parents need to be on the lookout for that and have frank, open conversations with their kids starting very early, as early as kindergarten. >> some of

in hawaii whose doctor says he has the same type of acute lung injury associated with vaping. chapman says her patients decline rapidly in just a week. >> you're saying that over a week's time their lungs are failing. >> they go from healthy to really in a life threatening injury. >> reporter: chance says his experience frightened him but the response was inspiring. >> if i'm able to have such an effect on the world, i think i would go through it again just so that i could help as many people as possible. >> juul declined to comment on chance's case but it said it's monitoring the reports on the other widespread lung injuries. >> this is dramatic stuff. what's the prognosis for these teenagers? >> unfortunately, some of them are still in the hospital and doctors say they do not know whether their lungs will return normal or if they will sustain permanent damage to their lungs. some teens in wisconsin did report vaping thc which is one of the active ingredients in marijuana and the american vaping association, we contacted them. they say they believe that's more likely what is causing