New York, March 9 A new study has revealed that incidents of children in the US being poisoned by the synthetic opioid fentanyl increased and became more severe.
The research followed an analysis of nonfatal fentanyl paediatric (aged 0-19) exposures reported to poison centres in 49 US states from 2015 through to 2023. In total, some 3,009 cases were detailed across the eight-year period.
In 2023 alone, 44.6 per cent were life-threatening incidents, in which there was extreme harm that could have resulted in death if not treated – an increase of these severe cases from 15.9 per cent in 2015, according to peer-reviewed findings published in The American Journal of Drug And Alcohol Abuse.
The majority (81.7 per cent) of patients aged 0–12 were exposed unintentionally. Most patients (65.7 per cent) aged 13–19 were noted as having used fentanyl intentionally for non-medical purposes.
Most incidents (1,771) were in youth aged 13–19 (58.9 per cent), compared with 1,238 cases (41.1 per cent) involving children aged 0-12. Males accounted for 58.5 per cent (1,754) of all cases and females 41.5 per cent (1,244).
Since 2021, there have been over 70,000 synthetic opioid-related deaths per year; although the latest, provisional data shows such deaths are decreasing.
It is understood that friends are a major source of prescription pills among adolescents and social media, too, is commonly used to purchase drugs from strangers. Various drugs not directly purchased from a pharmacy can be adulterated with fentanyl, the study noted.
Driven by a “lack of focus on nonfatal overdose and how pediatric populations are being affected,” the expert team found exposures increased over the eight years. Among those aged 0-12 this was by 924.3 per cent. For 13- to 19-year-olds there was a 1,506 per cent increase.
Lead author Dr Joseph Palamar from the Department of Population Health, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, in New York, said the results demonstrate the need for “increased prevention, treatment, and harm reduction”.
“We can’t forget that kids are also at risk during this opioid crisis. Parents need to be aware that teens can purchase pills via apps that are sold as Adderall or Xanax but actually contain fentanyl. Parents and others, too, need to be careful to not leave fentanyl, whether licit or illicit, out in the open around unsupervised children,” explained Dr Palamar.
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