Increasing Exposure of Young Children to Illicit Fentanyl in the United States

This letter to the editor highlights a marked rise in reported exposures of children under 6 to illicit fentanyl in the U.S. between 2013 and 2023. Using data from the National Poison Data System (NPDS), the authors identified 1,466 cases with the number of annual exposures rising from 5 to 539 over the study period. The majority of affected children (84.4%) were aged 2 years or younger and exposed in their homes. Common clinical features included CNS depression (63.2%), respiratory arrest (49.6%), naloxone administration (62.5%), and fatalities (3.5%). Data from the Oregon Poison Center corroborated these findings. The authors emphasize that these results underscore an urgent need for targeted prevention and public health interventions.

This letter to the editor highlights a marked rise in reported exposures of children under 6 to illicit fentanyl in the U.S. between 2013 and 2023. Using data from the National Poison Data System (NPDS), the authors identified 1,466 cases with the number of annual exposures rising from 5 to 539 over the study period. The majority of affected children (84.4%) were aged 2 years or younger and exposed in their homes. Common clinical features included CNS depression (63.2%), respiratory arrest (49.6%), naloxone administration (62.5%), and fatalities (3.5%). Data from the Oregon Poison Center corroborated these findings. The authors emphasize that these results underscore an urgent need for targeted prevention and public health interventions.