(Jen Christensen/ CNN News) — The number of young children in the US who have died from opioid overdoses has increased significantly, according to a new study on accidental poisonings of children 5 and younger.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, looked at a nationwide database and found 731 children 5 and under among poison-related fatalities between 2005 and 2018. Some of the children were poisoned by over-the-counter pain, cold and allergy medicines, but the highest number of fatal poisonings by far were from opioids.
The trend got worse over time. In 2005, opioids accounted for 24.1% (seven of 29) of the substances contributing to child deaths, compared with 52.2% (24 of 46) in 2018.
“It truly is striking to see, looking at this data, how different the proportions were between 2005 and 2018,” said study co-author Dr. Christopher Gaw, an associate fellow at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia whose research primarily focuses on pediatric injury and poisoning. (…)