Deaths of American children and teens spiked between 2019 and 2021, the result of increased car wrecks, shootings and drug overdoses, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University survey of federal data published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.The death rate of youngsters ages 1 to 19 rose 20% in the three-year span, the largest increase in the past 50 years. It reverses a decades-long trend of generally lower death rates thanks to the prevention and treatment of disease.Dr. Steven Woolf, an author of the report, said he has not seen an increase like this in his career.“This is a red flashing light,” Woolf added. “We need to understand the causes and address them immediately to protect our children.”