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In H1N1 Flu Battle, Electronic Cigarettes Could be a Surprising Ally 

"Dr. Robertson placed groups of mice in a chamber and sprayed its air first with propylene glycol, then with influenza virus. All the mice lived. Then he sprayed the chamber with virus alone. All the mice died."

This quote is from a TIME magazine article entitled "Medicine: Air Germicide" which dates back to November 16, 1942 (time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932876,00.html). The article has renewed relevance today because propylene glycol is the main ingredient in e cigarette cartridges.

An electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette) looks like a standard cigarette, but doesn’t burn tobacco or release toxic smoke. Instead, each puff vaporizes a small amount of nicotine dissolved in water and propylene glycol. Early studies on the benefits of switching from regular to electronic cigarettes have been promising enough to earn this October 2009 policy statement from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a UK public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco: . . .

With current and inevitable future outbreaks of respiratory illnesses such as swine flu, avian flu, SARS and antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, updated and comprehensive research into this topic deserves to be given a high priority in the medical research community.

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