Study finds opioid poisoning in children increasing alongside adult misuse

The impacts of the ongoing opioid crisis are trickling down to young children, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2024 National Conference & Exhibition at the Orange County Convention Center from Sept. 27–Oct. 1.

One abstract, “Characteristics of Children with Opioid Poisoning Consulted by a Child Protection Service,” examined the demographic and medical records of 69 children who were assessed by Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect teams in the Philadelphia, PA area.

The study found that over a 10-year period from June 2012 to Dec. 2023, there was an increase in cases of children overdosing on opioids, with a four-fold increase from 2019 to 2023. Most of the children were under the age of 2, with the youngest being 19-days old.

Dr. Maria Quidgley-Martin, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Attending and Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida and lead author on the study, found that fentanyl was the drug most often found in these overdose cases.

“As parents and other adults increasingly misuse opioids, it’s becoming more and more possible for those drugs to end up in children’s hands,” Quidgley-Martin explained. “Children are most often coming across these drugs in familiar settings such as their home or the home of a relative.”

Non-Hispanic Black children were the most susceptible as the group experienced an 11-fold increase from 2019 to 2023, a sharp increase even when compared to the four-fold general increase over that same timeframe.

Typical symptoms of opioid poisoning in children include changes in behavior, unresponsiveness, difficulty breathing and seizures. According to Dr. Quidgley-Martin, most also weren’t given naloxone, a powerful nasal drug used to counteract the effects of opioid overdose.

“Children are the overlooked tragic victims of the United States’ opioid epidemic and fentanyl is now the greatest danger,” Dr. Quidgley-Martin said. “We need our first responders to always consider administering naloxone to unconscious pediatric patients in case they have unknowingly been exposed.”

Over half of the patient’s families had previous contact with Child Protective Services with 65% reporting a family history of opioid abuse. These numbers highlight the ongoing crisis opioids are perpetuating on families across the country.

Of the 69 patients studied, four died. They were all younger than 2-years-old and all tested positive for fentanyl.

“As a pediatric emergency medicine doctor, I have seen children injured and killed by fentanyl way too often,” Dr. Quidgley-Martin said. “We need to speak about this more and work together to protect our children.”