Emergency department visits among young children related to unsupervised melatonin ingestion rose more than 400% from 2009 to 2020, according to a new CDC report.
The agency used data from a national surveillance system to identify cases of ED visits related to unsupervised melatonin ingestion in children 5 years old and younger and estimated that 11,000 such visits occurred in 2019-2022. This accounted for 7% of all ED visits for unsupervised medication exposures in this age group, the CDC said.
Many of the incidents involved gummy products or chewable tablets that may appeal to children, according to the report.