Pediatric exposure to illicit fentanyl is associated with drug availability in the community

Introduction: Fentanyl has replaced diacetylmorphine (heroin) as the primary illicit opioid in the United States. Over the last several years, exposures to illicit fentanyl in small children have increased nationally. We hypothesized that the increase in illicit fentanyl in the community, as measured by regional drug seizures, would be associated with the number of pediatric exposures to illicit fentanyl.

Methods: To assess the number of pediatric illicit fentanyl exposures, we searched the regional poison center database for human exposures in children under 6 years old from January 1, 2019-December 31, 2023. We searched for all cases with fentanyl in the substance field and excluded cases that identified prescription fentanyl in the substance code, product code, or had an exposure reason not consistent with illicit fentanyl. We quantified illicit fentanyl drug seizures in our state by using the Drug Enforcement Administration data. We used Poisson regression to assess the association between drug availability in the community (drug seizures) and pediatric fentanyl exposures.

Results: Between 2019 and 2023, there was an increase in both illicit fentanyl drug seizures (from 11.7 kg/year to 177 kg/year) and pediatric fentanyl exposures (from zero to 16), and there was a significant association (incident rate ratio 1.90; 95% CI: 1.50-2.53; P <0.001) between these rates.

Discussion: We report a strong association between drug availability in the community and pediatric exposures, suggesting that drug seizure data may be a valuable tool for poison centers, medical toxicologists, and public health officials.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that monitoring regional drug seizure data may be a tool to determine new trends in pediatric exposure, guide research in the area, and target outreach and education.