A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after a dangerous social media trend involving deodorant inhalation led to a cardiac arrest. Cesar Watson-King, from Doncaster, reportedly inhaled a can of anti-perspirant last month after being introduced to the "chroming" craze by an older boy.

Shortly after inhaling the substance, Cesar's mother, Nichola King, found him on the kitchen floor having a seizure. The 36-year-old performed CPR to restore his breathing while his brother called for an ambulance. Cesar was rushed to the hospital, where he experienced additional seizures and a cardiac arrest before being placed in a medically induced coma.

What is Chroming?

Chroming involves inhaling the fumes of volatile substances, such as aerosol deodorants, glue, or paint, to achieve a temporary high. This practice, although not new, has gained renewed attention due to its viral spread on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

The immediate effects of chroming can include dizziness, euphoria, and hallucinations, but the long-term consequences are far more severe, including brain damage and heart failure.

Social media platforms have played a pivotal role in popularizing chroming, making it a widespread trend among teenagers. The challenge-oriented nature of these platforms encourages risky behaviors, often glamorized by influencers or peers.

Unfortunately, the consequences of such trends are rarely highlighted, leaving young people unaware of the potentially deadly outcomes. Parents and educators need to stay vigilant and educate teens about the dangers lurking behind these viral challenges.

Potential Health Risks of Chroming

Chroming poses significant health risks, many of which are life-threatening. Inhalation of toxic chemicals can lead to a range of acute and chronic health problems. Immediate effects may include nausea, headaches, and a temporary loss of motor control. However, repeated exposure can result in severe damage to the brain, lungs, kidneys, and liver. The chemicals in these household products are not meant for inhalation and can cause irreversible damage to the central nervous system.

One of the most alarming consequences of chroming is the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The chemicals can disrupt the heart's normal rhythm, leading to a fatal outcome even after a single use. Several cases of sudden death have been reported, including a tragic incident involving a 13-year-old boy in the UK who died after participating in a chroming challenge. This highlights the immediate danger of engaging in this practice, especially for young individuals with developing bodies.

Social media's role in spreading chroming cannot be overstated. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become breeding grounds for dangerous challenges, where young users are easily influenced by viral content. The anonymity and reach of these platforms make it difficult to control the spread of harmful behaviors. Moreover, the competitive nature of these challenges often pushes participants to take greater risks, further exacerbating the danger.

Parents, educators, and health professionals must work together to combat these trends by promoting awareness and education. Open communication with teenagers about the risks of chroming and other viral challenges is essential. Social media companies also have a responsibility to monitor and remove harmful content that promotes dangerous behaviors.

To prevent the spread of chroming and protect young people from its dangers, several measures can be implemented. Education is the first line of defense. Schools and communities should incorporate lessons on the dangers of substance abuse, including inhalant abuse, into their curriculums. Parents should engage in open dialogues with their children, making them aware of the risks and encouraging them to think critically about the content they consume on social media.

Health experts also advise monitoring the use of household products that can be misused for chroming. Keeping such products out of reach and ensuring that young people understand their proper use is crucial.

In addition, parents should be aware of the signs of inhalant abuse, which can include unexplained fatigue, a chemical smell on the breath or clothing, and a decline in academic performance or interest in activities.

The mpox outbreak continues to be a public health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday. The agency’s director-general also issued an updated set of temporary recommendations.

WHO had first declared the emergency in August last year, after a new strain of mpox spread from the severely affected Democratic Republic of Congo to nearby countries.

A public health emergency of international concern remains WHO’s highest level of alert.

What Is Mpox?

Mpox or monkey-pox is a viral disease in Africa. This was discovered by captive monkeys in 1958, after whom the disease was named in 1970. However, the name was later changed as it attracted many racist comments, especially on social media, where people wrote “the disease of monkeys” and associated it with the African people.

However, under the WHO guidelines, the naming of diseases must not drive any unnecessary negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare, and avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. Thus, the name monkey-pox became the ‘m-pox’.

The outbreak led to WHO to declare an international public health emergency (PHEIC), from July 2022 to May 2023 in Congo. Now a new strain of the m-pox is infecting people in Kenya and poses a threat to many other African countries, including Congo.

How to detect it?

There are signs and symptoms of M-pox. They start to show within seven to 14 days of being infected. Therefore, for about a week a person may not know they have m-pox, and they can spread it by travelling.

The earliest signs are getting a fever, sweating and having chills through your body.

Other signs involve rashes, which start from a distant rash on the face and spread throughout the body. These rashes can be in different forms, sometimes a flat lesion, bumps, boils or scabs.

Other symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, migraine, muscle aches, fatigue, weakness and back pain.

How to prevent it?

This is a contagious infection and can spread by skin-to-skin contact. There are certain ways to prevent the spread. The first one is restricting your movement. Avoid going out in public, meeting people and interacting with animals.

Wear clothes that will prevent skin-to-skin infections. Cover yourself well so you do not spread the infection from your skin to other people.

Though there is no vaccination for the disease, doctors have noted that smallpox vaccination works on it to some extent.

Other ways are to keep hydrating yourself to get rid of the toxins from your body.

Doctors also prescribe medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen to treat the pain and fever one may experience after being infected. Antiviral treatment like tecovirimat has been said to work on the infection too.

As per the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, India has crossed the 6,000 mark for total COVID-19 cases. 796 new cases were also reported in more than last 48 hours. As per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), among these cases, 163 are from the newly emerging COVID-19 variant XFG.

What Is The XFG Variant?

As per a June 2025 Lancet Report, the recombinant XFG variant originates from LF.7 and LP.8.1.2 and harbours four key spike mutations including His445Arg, Asn487Asp, Gln493Glu, and Thr572Ile and has achieved rapid global spread following its initial detection in Canada.

The Lancet study also reveals that it is a descendant of the Omicron subvariant of the Coronavirus.

The XFG variant also displays “strong immune evasion,” which allows the virus to survive and spread as it manages to evade the body’s natural defences.

As of now, the new variant has been detected in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Who Could Be The Worst Affected?

Several groups in India face a higher risk during spikes in respiratory infections. These include older adults, people with underlying conditions such as heart disease, lung disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure, or obesity, as well as those with weakened immune systems like cancer patients and transplant recipients. Pregnant women, due to physiological changes, and children under five—particularly those who are unvaccinated—are also more vulnerable.

Health experts recommend that individuals in these categories take extra precautions: wear masks in public places, avoid crowded settings, stay indoors when possible, and maintain regular hand hygiene.

What Is The Plan Of Action?

Hospitals have been instructed to follow the updated ABC Guidelines 03, released in June 2023, for managing patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 or influenza. Anyone with signs of ILI (Influenza-Like Illness), ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection), or SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) must be tested. If a Rapid Antigen Test is negative, an RT-PCR test is mandatory. The health department has also directed that district RT-PCR testing facilities be used to their full capacity.

Though the preventive measures are not new, their importance has been renewed. Respiratory viruses often follow seasonal patterns, bringing repeated waves of infection. People with symptoms—or those at high risk—are strongly advised to avoid crowded, closed, and poorly ventilated spaces such as public transport, offices, malls, and theatres, particularly if not wearing a mask. While rapid testing is easily accessible in cities, limited access in rural areas highlights the need for wider distribution.

What Is Happening Globally?

On May 28, 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a global rise in SARS-CoV-2 activity, based on data from its Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System. Since mid-February, test positivity rates have been climbing steadily, reaching 11 per cent—levels last seen in July 2024.

The surge is most noticeable in the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific regions, driven by emerging subvariants such as LF.7, XFG, JN.1, and NB.1.8.1. Among these, NB.1.8.1 has drawn special attention and has been classified by WHO as a Variant Under Monitoring (VUM). By late April, 518 sequences of NB.1.8.1 had been reported from 22 countries, making up 10.7 per cent of global submissions.

While NB.1.8.1 appears to spread more easily, current evidence shows no increase in disease severity. Reported symptoms remain familiar—sore throat, fever with chills, nasal congestion, fatigue, and headache.

Shocking to many, expected for more, the US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Monday removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to use vaccines. He has also pledged to replace them with his own picks.

This is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), from where 17 members have been removed. This step has been criticized by many physicians and public health groups.

It may come as a shock to many, but in all fairness, it was known that Kennedy was among the nation's leading anti-vaccine activists before he became the nation's top health official. While he has revealed that the members will be his own pick, he has not said who would he appoint. However, as per reports, this should convene in two week in Atlanta. It is also important to note that the entire roster of committee members were in fact, Biden appointees.

In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy wrote: “Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028. A clean sweep s needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science."

The reports say that the former panel members received an email on a late Monday afternoon that said that their services had been terminated without any reason. Many of whom had not served a full term.

While his steps are being criticized, they must not be seen as a shock as Kennedy had already taken the unusual step of changing COVID-19 recommendations without first consulting the committee.

As per Kennedy, the committee members had too many conflict of interests. However, as the US News reports, Dr Tom Frieden, who is the president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former director of CDC said that Kennedy's actions were based on false conflict of interest claims and that they set a "dangerous and unprecedented action that makes our families less safe". As this step can significantly reduce vaccine access to many people.

“Make no mistake: Politicizing the ACIP as Secretary Kennedy is doing will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it,” he said in a statement. “We’ll look back at this as a grave mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust, and opened the door for fringe theories rather than facts.”

ALSO READ: What Are The Key Takeaways From RFK Jr.'s CDC Press Conference On Autism Report?

RFK Jr.'s Past Remarks On Vaccines

In a podcast interview, he said, "There is no vaccine that is safe and effective" and told FOX News that he still believes in the now long-debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism. In another 2021 podcast, he urged people to "resist" CDC guidelines on getting their kids vaccinated. "I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, better not get them vaccinated," he said.

His non-profit also led an anti-vax campaign sticker and he appeared next on the screen to a sticker that read: "If you are not an anti-vaxxer you are not paying attention," reports AP. He told the FOX News that "autism comes from vaccine". However, vaccination has indeed saved more lives.

After taking the charge of the office, Dr Peter Marks, one of the top US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s leaders and scientist in vaccine regulation had also been ousted. Several sources have also reported that his resignation was not voluntary, in fact he was reportedly told to 'resign or get fired'.

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