What is the number 1 killer of children in the US?
Firearms recently became the number one cause of death for children in the United States, surpassing motor vehicle deaths and those caused by other injuries.
The information below is from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Accidents (unintentional injuries) are, by far, the leading cause of death among children and teens.
The previous analysis, which examined data through 2016, showed that firearm-related injuries were second only to motor vehicle crashes (both traffic-related and nontraffic-related) as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents, defined as persons 1 to 19 years of age.
The leading cause of death among children is a firearm," Schumer said.
Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the United States, but rank no higher than fifth in 11 other large and wealthy countries, a new KFF analysis finds.
Children and adolescents under age 18 represent 22.2% of the United States population. Accidents (unintentional injuries) are the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, 5-9 and 10-14.
The leading causes of death in children under 5 years are preterm birth complications, birth asphyxia/trauma, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, all of which can be prevented or treated with access to affordable interventions in health and sanitation.
- AIDS and HIV.
- Viral Hepatitis.
- Infectious Disease.
- Influenza.
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.
- Pneumonia.
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)
- Chronic Sinusitis.
Some of the leading causes of infant death in the United States include the following: birth defects; prematurity/low birthweight; sudden infant death syndrome; maternal complications of pregnancy and respiratory distress syndrome.
Leading causes of deaths among adolescents aged 15–19 years: Accidents (unintentional injuries) Homicide. Suicide.
What is the #1 killer of all time?
Heart disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. This is the case in the U.S. and worldwide. More than half of all people who die due to heart disease are men. Medical professionals use the term heart disease to describe several conditions.
...
Characteristic | Percentage of all death causes |
---|---|
Assault (homicide) | 7.7% |
Heart diseases | 3.6% |
Influenza and pneumonia | 3.3% |

Pneumonia: how the world's biggest killer of children became a neglected disease.
Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5, killing approximately 700,000 children a year. In many parts of the world, a child dies from pneumonia every minute – even though the disease is entirely preventable and can be easily managed with antibiotics.
Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, representing 20% of all deaths; firearm-related injuries were the second leading cause of death, responsible for 15% of deaths.
Valentina Vassilyev and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
Causes of Infant Mortality
Birth defects. Preterm birth and low birth weight. Sudden infant death syndrome.
Stillbirth is further classified as either early, late, or term. An early stillbirth is a fetal death occurring between 20 and 27 completed weeks of pregnancy. A late stillbirth occurs between 28 and 36 completed pregnancy weeks. A term stillbirth occurs between 37 or more completed pregnancy weeks.
- Heart disease: 696,962.
- Cancer: 602,350.
- COVID-19: 350,831.
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 200,955.
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 160,264.
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 152,657.
- Alzheimer's disease: 134,242.
- Diabetes: 102,188.
What is the leading killer of children under 5?
The leading causes of death in children under 5 years are preterm birth complications, birth asphyxia/trauma, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, all of which can be prevented or treated with access to affordable interventions in health and sanitation.
Accidents account for nearly one-half of all teenage deaths. As a category of accidents, motor vehicle fatality is the leading cause of death to teenagers, representing over one-third of all deaths. Among teenagers, non-Hispanic black males have the highest death rate (94.1 deaths per 100,000 population).
Characteristic | Percentage of all death causes |
---|---|
Unintentional injuries | 30.6% |
Cancer (malignant neoplasms) | 15.9% |
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities | 8.2% |
Assault (homicide) | 6.6% |