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From 2007 to 2016, more than 11,000 children and adolescents in the United States were exposed to buprenorphine, a drug that is used to treat opioid use disorders, according to a new study. Of these 11,000, 86% were under 6 years old.
The figures are based on calls to poison centers during this period, according to the study, published today (June 25) in the journal Pediatrics.
Although it is used to treat opioid dependence, buprenorphine is also an opioid. However, it is much lower than opioids that are commonly abused, such as heroin and oxycodone, according to the study.
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Researchers do not know how or why so many children have been exposed to buprenorphine, but they think it could be due to the fact that parents do not store the drugs properly, that is to say out of the reach of children. In fact, about 90 percent of exposures were unintended, according to the study.
"We do not know exactly why [buprenorphine] stands out so much [to kids]Henry Spiller, one of the newspaper's authors and director of the Central Ohio Anti-Poison Center, told CNN: "Maybe parents who have this do not think it's also risky that their other [opioids] because it does not have the great effect that the other[s] do for them. "
But the drug is dangerous for young children. It "is never prescribed for children under 6," said Spiller. "It's a big risk for them."
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Nearly half of the children under 6 exposed to the drug were admitted to hospital and 21% had a serious medical problem, such as a seizure, cardiac arrest, respiratory depression (slow and ineffective breathing). ) or a coma. Seven children under 6 died from this exhibition.
The researchers wrote that manufacturers should use packaging that make it more difficult for young children to access pills. In addition, buprenorphine prescribers should talk to parents and caregivers about the dangers of exposure to young children and explain to them how to properly store and dispose of medications.
The study also revealed that about 11 percent of exposures were among teens, and that about 77 percent of those people took it on purpose.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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