Opioid Overdose

Drug overdose mortality is a growing problem in the United States. In 2017 alone over 72,000 deaths were attributed to drug overdose, most of which were caused by fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids). While nearly every community has seen an increase in drug overdose, there is considerable variation in the degree of increase in specific communities. The Harris County community, which includes the City of Houston, has not seen the massive spikes observed in some communities, such as West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. However, the situation in Harris County is complicated in mortality and drug use. From 2010 - 2016 Harris County has seen a fairly stable overdose-related mortality count, ranging from 450 - 618 deaths per year. Of concern, the last two years, 2015-2016, suggest a sharp increase has occurred. Another complexity is that Harris County drug related deaths seem to be largely from polysubstance abuse. Deaths attributed to cocaine, methamphetamine, and benzodiazipine all have risen in the past few years. Deaths associated with methamphetamine have risen from approximately 20 per year in 2010 - 2012 to 119 in 2016. This 6-fold increase is alarming and suggests a large-scale public health response is needed.

Objective: In this session, we will explore the results of a descriptive analysis of all drug overdose mortality data collected by the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office and how that data can be used to inform public health action.

Submitted by elamb on Tue, 06/18/2019 - 20:22

Presented March 21, 2019.

FirstWatch Recommendations for Surveillance of EMS Data for Opioid Overdoses: https://www.firstwatch.net/finding-opioid-data/

Presented November 16, 2018.

The current opioid overdose/addiction crisis in the United States presents a challenge to public health intervention due to a lack of data on current and past incidence. Very little information is known regarding what is happening when/where and in comparison to the past. Marin County, California is addressing the lack of clarity in opioid overdose data by designing a novel cloud-based system to identify opioid overdoses for both surveillance and outreach purposes using county owned Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data.

This fact sheet, developed by the Network for Public Health Law and published August 29, 2018, summarizes Ohio's laws to combat the opioid overdose crisis.

Submitted by ctong on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 17:02

THE KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE CDC OPIOID V3 - THE UPDATED SYNDROME DEFINITION CAN BE FOUND HERE.

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 08/29/2018 - 09:42

Below are the publicly available opioid overdose surveillance dashboards by U.S. state or territory. This list is updated as of March 7, 2019.

Submitted by ctong on Fri, 06/22/2018 - 13:21

Presented December 14, 2017 for the Poison Center and Public Health Collaboration Community of Practice.

Presenters

Gaylord Lopez, PharmD, DABAT, Director – Georgia Poison Center

Stephanie Hon, PharmD, DABAT, Assistant Director – Georgia Poison Center

Laura Edison, DVM, MPH, Epidemiology Field Officer – Geogria Department of Health

Nelly Miles, BA, Director – Georgia Bureau of Investigation Office of Public Affairs

The overdose crisis continues unabated. While the epidemic was originally fueled largely by prescription opioid pain relievers, around 2010 a dramatic increase in heroin-related overdoses began. After remaining essentially stable for years, overdose deaths involving heroin spiked rapidly, more than tripling between 2010 and 2014. Starting in 2014, the epidemic began another transformation. Black market drug products—both heroin and counterfeit pills - became increasingly adulterated with illicitly—manufactured synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl analogues.

Submitted by ctong on Thu, 03/01/2018 - 08:50

The current surveillance system for opioid-related overdoses at UDOH has been limited to mortality data provided by the Office of the Medical Examiner (OME). Timeliness is a major concern with OME data due to the considerable lag in its availability, often up to six months or more. To enhance opioid overdose surveillance, UDOH has implemented additional surveillance using timely syndromic data to monitor fatal and nonfatal opioid-related overdoses in Utah.

Objective:

To monitor opioid-related overdose in real-time using emergency department visit data and to develop an opioid overdose surveillance report for Utah Department of Health (UDOH) and its public health partners.

Submitted by elamb on Sun, 01/21/2018 - 10:42

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