Gun violence, drugs behind 18% spike in child deaths

Pediatrician says nearly all deaths behind increase were preventable

IN THE NEWS: : Research published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that the rate of child deaths has increased by 18% between 2019 and 2021.

Though the spike coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, it couldn’t be attributed to the virus. The causes were instead fatal car accidents (up 16%), murders (up 39%) and fatal overdoses, which more than doubled. Guns also surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of death in children.

UCI Health pediatrician Dr. Coleen Cunningham spoke to The New York Times about the concerning trends.

“[These children’s deaths were sudden] and almost always preventable.”

Cunningham is a nationally regarded expert in pediatric infectious diseases and is a physician at UCI Health Pediatric Services whose work is focused on improving healthcare outcomes for children. She is the senior vice president and pediatrician-in-chief for Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), serving as the key physician executive liaison between CHOC and UCI Health.

Cunningham is also the chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. She has published dozens of manuscripts and led numerous clinical trials aimed at treating and preventing pediatric infections, particularly HIV and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

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