BPHC

The Boston Public Health Commission today approved draft regulations to ban the sale of "e-cgarettes" to minors, prohibit the sales of single cigars and double the fines for violating the city's tobacco-control rules.

The proposed e-cigarette regulations would cover devices that "are made of plastic and metal and heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge to create vapor that the smoker inhales," the board said in a statement.

There are no current laws that bar their sale to minors and already several convenience stores sell them, with more interested in pushing them, the board says. Under the proposed regulations, anybody who wants to sell e-cigarettes would require a city permit and would require the gizmos to be stored behind a counter, like cigarettes, and not sold to anyone under 18.

The Boston Public Health Commission reports a sharp rise in flu cases in the under-5 set likely signals the start of more widespread flu cases among adults.

Emergency-room visits for flu-like symptoms in general is up sharply over the past month, but especially among children under 5, the commission said today. Lab-test sampling - not everybody who shows up at an ER with fevery aches has samples sent for testing - shows 21% of cases are now among kids under 5, the commission said.

"If we're seeing this level of flu activity in children, then adults are likely to soon follow," said Dr. Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau "Influenza often starts in a community in children, then spreads to adults."

Barry said it's not too late to get a flu shot, which is now recommended for everybody over the age of six months.

Free flu clinics (there's one Friday in Uphams Corner).