USA. The Shocking Facts About Opioid Deaths in the Very Young

Yale researchers have uncovered startling data about the number of children and adolescents (younger than age 20) dying from opioid poisoning.

The general belief—until the Yale team delved into it—was that children and adolescents rarely die from ingesting illicit and prescription opioids.

But the researchers found that most studies had looked at deaths related to hospitalizations or emergency department visits—not deaths occurring outside hospitals.

Adding the deaths outside hospitals brought the average yearly death total to nearly 500—far more than had been expected; meaning that over the 18-year span of the study, ending in 2016, opioid deaths claimed the lives of almost 9,000 children and adolescents. Almost 8,000 of the deaths occurred among adolescents (aged 15 to 19), and just over 600 among children aged 0 to 4 years.

The findings were especially grim among children younger than age 5. Tragically, almost one death in four in this highly vulnerable group was due to homicide.

The study results were published in the December issue of JAMA Network Open. (AT Forum, 18.01.2019)

http://atforum.com/2019/01/shocking-facts-opioid-deaths-very-young/