A surge in drug abuse across the United States is taking a heavy toll, with even the youngest members of society affected.
Recent data reveals a troubling trend: the rate of infants dying from drug-related causes more than doubled between 2018 and 2022.
According to researchers from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, in 2018, 10.8% of deaths among babies under 1 year old were linked to drugs. By 2022, this figure had soared by 120%, reaching 24.4% of infant fatalities.
The most significant increase occurred during the pandemic, suggesting that restricted access to essential services like hospitals and prenatal care may have played a role.
Dr. Maria Mejia, senior study author and professor of population health and social medicine at the university, emphasized the importance of addressing drug-related deaths in infants as a preventable issue to reduce overall infant mortality rates in the United States.
The study defined a drug-related infant death as one where drugs either directly caused or contributed to the death. These deaths could be linked to maternal drug use, accidental ingestion of prescription medication by the baby, presence of illicit drugs in the home, or other incidents involving drugs leading to death.
Published recently in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine, the study relied on data on infant deaths collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Focusing on the years 2018 to 2022, the researchers sought to assess the pandemic’s impact, as 2022 provided the most recent comprehensive data.
Apart from the alarming rise in infant deaths associated with drugs, the statistics revealed that during the postnatal period (ages 28 to 364 days), drug-related causes emerged as the leading cause of infant mortality.
Among drug-related infant deaths, the research indicated that 35.6% were due to “assault [homicide] by drugs, medicaments, and biological substances.” Exposure to narcotics and hallucinogens accounted for 15.6% of deaths, while accidental poisonings from sedatives, epilepsy drugs, Parkinson’s medications, and psychotropic drugs were responsible for nearly 11% of cases.
The study highlighted psychostimulants with abuse potential and synthetic narcotics as the most common multiple causes of drug-involved infant deaths. Psychostimulants include drugs like methamphetamine, while synthetic narcotics encompass substances such as fentanyl.
The findings also shed light on racial disparities, with black infants accounting for 28.5% of deaths, while white infants represented about 60% of these fatalities.
Dr. Mejia underscored the importance of collaborative efforts among healthcare providers, public health agencies, and community partners to implement effective strategies. These strategies should focus on preventing and treating maternal substance use disorders, improving access to prenatal care, and addressing broader social and behavioral risk factors to prevent such tragedies from occurring.
