{"id":1392,"date":"2024-06-20T11:12:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2024-06-20T11:18:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:18:22","slug":"severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/","title":{"rendered":"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dr. Holstege, fellow faculty and staff are featured in UVA Health’s Connect. Full article here<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

America\u2019s poison centers are fielding increasingly severe cases that are dramatically more likely to lead to severe harm or death in both adults and children, a new study from UVA School of Medicine reveals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The number of calls about intentional exposures that resulted in death among adults increased a whopping 233.9% between the beginning of 2007 and the end of 2021, the study reveals. \u201cIntentional exposures\u201d include cases such as suicide attempts, use of illegal drugs, and incorrect use of medications for reasons other than their intended purpose, such as to get high.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The severity of unintentional exposures increased as well, with the number resulting in severe harm (such as disfigurement or disability) increasing by 37.4% and the number resulting in death increasing by 65.3%. This spike in serious outcomes occurred even as the total number of calls for unintentional exposures decreased slightly, by .8%. These cases include unintentional medication misuse, such as taking an incorrect dose; workplace and environmental exposures to harmful substances; bites and stings; and food poisoning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The severity of cases among children was up, too: The number of pediatric intentional exposures resulting in severe harm or death was up by 76.6%, even as the total number of cases declined by 33%. The number of unintentional exposures resulting in severe harm or death was up by 190.1% and 122.7%, respectively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAs a society, we should be concerned at these trends pertaining to children,\u201d says researcher\u00a0Christopher Holstege, MD,<\/strong>\u00a0Director, UVA Health\u2019s Blue Ridge Poison Center and Chief, Division of Medical Toxicology at UVA School of Medicine. \u201cWe need to collaboratively strategize on better delineating the root causes for such severe cases of pediatric poisonings, especially in the realms of mental health and substance use and misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding Poisoning Trends<\/strong>
\nWith drug overdose deaths rising around the nation, Holstege and his collaborators \u2014 UVA epidemiologist\u00a0Rita Farah, PharmD, PhD<\/strong>, and\u00a0Ryan J. Cole, MD<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 wanted to get a better sense of the outcomes for calls poison centers have received in recent years. So, they reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures reported to the 55 poison centers in the United States between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2021. These calls included almost 8 million unintentional exposures among adults 19 and older, 3.9 million intentional adult exposures, 18.7 million unintentional pediatric exposures and more than 1.6 million intentional pediatric exposures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The researchers found that calls were increasingly likely to result in severe harm or death as time went on, and this held true across all age groups. Calls about cases that had minor effects, meanwhile, declined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That aligned with what Holstege expected. \u201cWe were not surprised by the study findings. In fact, what prompted us to look at the data on a national level is the increased severity of cases we are seeing at UVA Health\u2019s Blue Ridge Poison Center,\u201d he says. \u201cThe cause for this trend is multifactorial: We have experienced a growing mental health crisis in the nation\u2019s youth, and we are finding an increasing number of dangerous novel psychoactive substances such as synthetic opioids and designer benzodiazepines entering society.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Despite the increasing severity of calls to poison centers, the researchers did not find a consistent, corresponding increase to critical care units. This may have resulted, in part, from the COVID-19 pandemic limiting available healthcare resources, the researchers say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

With poisons centers being called upon to handle increasingly severe cases, they may need to rethink how they allocate resources, the researchers note. For example, they may need to have more toxicologists available to field complex cases that go beyond the expertise of the poison specialists who answer calls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cPoison centers are an integral part of the medical management team as we see an increase in the severity of cases of poisoning,\u201d Holstege says. \u201cPoison centers are staffed with clinical toxicologists who provide free expert recommendations on a vast array of toxicologic emergencies to the public and to professionals who call. Involving toxicologists early can save lives and reduce the length of hospital stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Findings Published<\/strong>
\nThe researchers have\u00a0published their findings in the scientific journal Clinical Toxicology<\/a>. The authors have no financial interest in the work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Holstege, fellow faculty and staff are featured in UVA Health’s Connect. Full article here. America\u2019s poison centers are fielding increasingly severe cases that are dramatically more likely to lead to severe harm or death in both adults and children, a new study from UVA School of Medicine reveals. The number of calls about intentional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2032,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"\nSeverity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Holstege, fellow faculty and staff are featured in UVA Health’s Connect. Full article here. America\u2019s poison centers are fielding increasingly severe cases that are dramatically more likely to lead to severe harm or death in both adults and children, a new study from UVA School of Medicine reveals. The number of calls about intentional […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medical Toxicology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-20T15:12:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-20T15:18:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nng3ps@virginia.edu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nng3ps@virginia.edu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/\",\"name\":\"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-20T15:12:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-20T15:18:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/6557669c9ffe69bee76b4926e99fde2f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/\",\"name\":\"Medical Toxicology\",\"description\":\"University of Virginia School of Medicine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/6557669c9ffe69bee76b4926e99fde2f\",\"name\":\"nng3ps@virginia.edu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f213ef48a0c5ed284fdf8e0c203ad46c246163b4766e94ac87415cda9778793?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f213ef48a0c5ed284fdf8e0c203ad46c246163b4766e94ac87415cda9778793?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nng3ps@virginia.edu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/author\/nng3psvirginia-edu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology","og_description":"Dr. Holstege, fellow faculty and staff are featured in UVA Health’s Connect. Full article here. America\u2019s poison centers are fielding increasingly severe cases that are dramatically more likely to lead to severe harm or death in both adults and children, a new study from UVA School of Medicine reveals. The number of calls about intentional […]","og_url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/","og_site_name":"Medical Toxicology","article_published_time":"2024-06-20T15:12:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-20T15:18:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"nng3ps@virginia.edu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nng3ps@virginia.edu","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/","name":"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply - Medical Toxicology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-20T15:12:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-20T15:18:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/6557669c9ffe69bee76b4926e99fde2f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uvaconnect.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Chris-Holstege-MD_UVA-Health_standard-766x559.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/2024\/06\/20\/severity-of-calls-to-u-s-poison-centers-increases-sharply\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Severity of Calls to U.S. Poison Centers Increases Sharply"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#website","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/","name":"Medical Toxicology","description":"University of Virginia School of Medicine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/6557669c9ffe69bee76b4926e99fde2f","name":"nng3ps@virginia.edu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f213ef48a0c5ed284fdf8e0c203ad46c246163b4766e94ac87415cda9778793?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f213ef48a0c5ed284fdf8e0c203ad46c246163b4766e94ac87415cda9778793?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nng3ps@virginia.edu"},"url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/author\/nng3psvirginia-edu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2032"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1392"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1395,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392\/revisions\/1395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/toxicology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}