Continued Rise in Unintentional Poisoning Deaths in Iowa

Summary The number of unintentional poisoning deaths rose in Iowa from 67, 78 and 68 in 20022004 respectively to 160 deaths in 2008. In 2002 the incidence rate was 2.3 per 100,000 while in 2008 it had reached 5.3 per 100,000. The primary cause of death was from illicit drugs (48 in 2008) and other medications (n=61) such as cardiovascular, respiratory, skeletal muscle, hormones, vaccines, antibiotics and other systemic drugs. Rises in deaths were observed in these categories but also accidental poisoning by alcohol (n=21 in 2008).