About The Study: Mirroring trends seen among adults, pediatric deaths from fentanyl began to increase substantially in 2013, resulting in a more than 30-fold increase in mortality between 2013 and 2021. A surge that began in 2018 has led to a nearly 3-fold increase in deaths among older adolescents and a nearly 6-fold increase among children younger than 5 years. Across age groups, annual deaths peaked in 2020 and 2021, suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this public health crisis.
Authors: Julie R. Gaither, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, is the corresponding author.
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(doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.0793)
