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US Drug-Related Infant Deaths More Than Doubled from 2018 to 2022

The AHA! Team — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 05:44:39 +0000

Florida Atlantic University via EurekAlert! – A new study by Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine has uncovered a disturbing trend in drug-related infant deaths in the United States from 2018 to 2022. Infant deaths are those that occur between the time a child is born and age 1. Drug-involved deaths are those in which drugs are either the primary cause of death or a contributing factor and may occur due to maternal drug use, inadvertent or accidental intake of specific prescriptions, illicit or non-medical use of drugs and other incidents where drugs were linked to death. Results of the study, published in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine, show that in the U.S. from 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths more than doubled (120% increase) from 10.8% in 2018 to 24.4% in 2022. The largest increase was observed between 2019 (16.9%) and 2022 with the greatest proportion of drug-related infant deaths occurring in 2021 (25.8%). Overall, relative to all other causes of infant mortality, drug-involved deaths became more prevalent after 2019. Findings show that drug-involved infant deaths also were higher in the postnatal period, ages 28 to 364 days (81.4%), relative to deaths due to all other causes during the same period (34.6%). The most prevalent underlying causes of death included assault (homicide) by drugs, medicaments and biological substances (35.6%) followed by poisoning from exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens) (15.6%), and accidental poisoning from exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs (10.8%). The most common multiple causes of drug-involved infant deaths were psychostimulants with abuse potential of synthetic narcotics. In addition, a significant proportion of infants who died from drug-involved causes were born to non-Hispanic white (60.4%) and non-Hispanic Black mothers (28.5%). Furthermore, drug-induced mortality was 56.5% in male infants and 43.7% in female infants, a difference which also was statistically significant. “The differences we observed by race/ethnicity in drug-involved deaths, predominantly among non-Hispanic white and Black infants require a multifaceted approach for clinical and public health interventions,” said Panagiota “Yiota” Kitsantas, Ph.D., corresponding author and professor and chair of the Department of Population Health and Social Medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Addressing the social determinants of health, enhancing access to addiction treatment and implementing culturally sensitive interventions may be important to prevent infant deaths in vulnerable populations. In addition, the underlying causes, which included drug-related assault and various forms of poisoning, also may be areas for clinical and public health interventions.” From 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths accounted for 1.18% of all infant deaths From 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths accounted for 1.18% of all infant deaths, a notable rise from the previously reported 0.64% from 2015 to 2017. This increase was particularly pronounced during COVID-19, raising questions that require further studies. During this period, drug overdose mortality also increased substantially among pregnant and postpartum women. The researchers note that during COVID-19 there was reduced access to prenatal care, the emergence of health care deserts and hospital closures, especially in rural areas. These may have contributed, at least in part, to the observed increases in drug-related infant deaths, although more research is warranted. “Given the alarming increase in the number of drug overdose deaths in the general population, especially among pregnant and postpartum women, findings from our study are both important and timely,” said Maria C. Mejia, M.D., senior author and a professor of population health and social medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Drug-involved deaths in infants represent a potentially avoidable cause that should be considered in efforts to reduce infant mortality in the United States. Effective strategies will require collaborative efforts among health providers, public health agencies and community partners, and should focus on preventing and treating maternal substance use disorders, enhancing prenatal care access and addressing broader social and behavioral risk factors.” For the study, researchers used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) and selected the period of 2018 to 2022 because 2018 was pre-COVID-19 and 2022 represents the most recent data available. Infant deaths were described by year of death, underlying cause and multiple cause of death, age of infant at time of death, gender and maternal race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic, Hispanic and other race). Study co-authors are Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.PH, first Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine and senior academic advisor; Sebastian Densley and Meera Rao, FAU medical students; Lea Sacca, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health and Social Medicine; and Robert S. Levine, M.D., affiliate professor of medicine; all within FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. Journal Journal of Perinatal Medicine DOI 10.1515/jpm-2024-0067 To read the original article click here.

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COVID-19 Death Rate “Much Lower” Than Previous Estimates, SHOCKING Admission in New Study

AHA Publisher — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 07:00:23 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – Public health officials commonly compare COVID-19 to seasonal influenza, often insisting that the former is far deadlier than the latter. Epidemiologists use figures such as the infection fatality rate in order to make these types of claims. But how truthful are they? Earlier in October, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a bulletin that calls into question just how deadly the SARS-CoV-2 virus really is. Estimates of death from SARS-CoV-2 “much lower” than initially believed, according to Stanford study On October 14, 2020, the WHO released the results of a peer-reviewed study by Stanford University professor and physician, Dr. John Ioannidis. His study estimates the infection fatality rate of COVID-19 and the virus that causes it, SARS-CoV-2. Quick refresher: Infection fatality rate is the proportion of individuals who die of a disease compared to all infected individuals, whether they are diagnosed or not Case fatality rate is the proportion of individuals who die of a disease compared to all individuals with confirmed cases As you might imagine, it can be difficult to determine infection fatality rate – how do you know, after all, how many people have a disease if they haven’t even been diagnosed? But historically, experts use surveillance and other methods to make their best possible estimates. And these estimates matter, according to experts like Ioannidis. Infection fatality rates give officials an idea of “the probability of dying for a person who is infected,” which can help drive prevention measures and treatment. You might also see how a disease could appear far deadlier than it actually is if only looking at the case fatality rate. Why? Because there could be many people with a disease who are never diagnosed and therefore aren’t accounted for when calculating case fatality ratio. So, what did this recent study find? In his study, Ioannidis analyzed the best available data from 61 studies and 8 national preliminary estimates. Here are a few of his main conclusions: The median COVID-19 infection fatality rate was 0.27% In areas of the world with more than 500 deaths per 1 million people, the infection fatality rate was 0.57% In areas of the world with 118–500 COVID-19 deaths/million people, the infection fatality rate was 0.20% The rate was just 0.09% in locations with COVID-19 population mortality rates less than the global average For people younger than 70 years old, infection fatality rates ranged from 0.00% to 0.31% – with a corrected median of just 0.05% (less than the commonly cited infection fatality rate for the seasonal flu of 0.1%) In his conclusion, Ioannidis states the “infection fatality rates tended to be much lower than estimates made earlier in the pandemic.” What numbers should we believe? Confusion rages about COVID-19 as we enter cold and flu season Ioannidis’s data is not alone, and other studies are also investigating how deadly this virus truly is. For example, a September 2020 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people younger than 40 had an infection fatality rate of just 0.01%. The same study – which analyzed community-dwelling individuals from the state of Indiana – also estimated that people older than 60 had an infection fatality rate of a whopping 1.71%, but that the overall rate was 0.26%, nearly the exact same as Ioannidis’s findings. Estimates can vary a lot depending on the location, population age, and other factors, so interpreting this data can be difficult. Many of these studies also have several limitations, including the possibility of response bias, false-positives, and misdiagnoses. So, what’s the bottom line? Estimates are just that – estimates. Nobody knows for sure how deadly COVID-19 truly is right now. But preliminary data indicates it’s certainly not as deadly as initially believed … which calls into question the decision to shut down the global economy during the pandemic. In the meantime, we don’t recommend sitting by and waiting for the statistics to shake out. Take this time to maximize your immune health: Get good sleep Eat an organic diet, as much as possible Minimize your exposure to unwanted (toxic) household and personal care products Reduce indoor air pollution, use a good quality air purifier Stay physically active Take vitamin C, D and zinc And, of course, practice some common-sense preventive measures, like washing your hands and avoiding exposure to sick people. Never forget: the key to a healthy life is a strong immune system. Sources for this article include: WHO.int, WHO.int, CDC.gov, ACPjournals.org This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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