Why MCDH’s opioid surveillance and response monthly reports matter in the fight against a growing drug overdose epidemic

MCHENRY COUNTY – The McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH) had announced on July 20, that it had officially launched its “Opioid Surveillance and Response” program on its website.

The program was developed back in 2019 in response to the increased opioid overdose health burden experienced by McHenry County residents. Public health professionals, community partners and county residents will benefit from utilizing this program to help identify significant increases in opioid overdose clusters in the county.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and many others.”

While MCDH states that not all opioid overdoses result in fatalities, there is still an alarming increase in deaths within recent years attributed to the rise of synthetic opioids.

The most recent MCDH Opioid Surveillance report from June 2021 states that individuals within the ages of 30-49, accounted for 50% of opioid overdose deaths in the county year-to-date. Most deaths involved white males.

The question is, why is opioid abuse becoming such a prevalent issue not just in McHenry County, but all across the U.S.?

MCDH explains that the problem lies with synthetic opioids which are fast-acting and can be “hundreds to thousands of times more toxic than heroin. Heroin and other street drugs are often mixed with fentanyl to increase their effects, which can quickly become a lethal combination.”

NIDA states that some drug dealers mix the cheaper fentanyl with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA because it takes very little to produce a high with fentanyl, allowing for drug dealers to increase their profits.

However, this makes it extremely dangerous for individuals taking drugs they may not realize could contain fentanyl as a cheap but dangerous additive.

Individuals may also become dependent on prescription opioids even when taken as instructed by a doctor. A person can be dependent on a substance without being addicted, but dependence can sometimes lead to addiction.

“No area of the United States is exempt from this epidemic—we all know a friend, family member, or loved one devastated by opioids,” said CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) principal deputy director Dr. Anne Schuchat in a press release. “All branches of the federal government are working together to reduce the availability of illicit drugs, prevent deaths from overdoses, treat people with substance-use disorders, and prevent people from starting using drugs in the first place.”

Puja Seth, the branch chief for the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch in the Division of Overdose Prevention at the CDC, stated, “Effective, synchronized programs to prevent drug overdoses will require coordination of law enforcement, first responders, mental health/substance-abuse providers, public health agencies and community partners.”

MCDH seems to agree with Seth’s statement seeing as its Opioid Surveillance program is the first step in fighting the ongoing opioid epidemic in the county.

“Preventing opioid-related overdoses in McHenry County requires all of us to work together,” said MCDH epidemiologist Ryan Sachs. “With this system in place, accurate and timely data is made available to inform public health response and policies, which could be used to prevent opioid overdoses.”

The CDC reported that synthetic opioids—primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl—appeared to be the primary driver of the increases in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” said CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield. “As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.”

To learn more about MCDH’s Opioid Surveillance and Response program and to review monthly reports, visit bit.ly/MCDHBehavioralHealth. For a list of locations in McHenry County offering naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, visit idph.illinois.gov/OpioidDataDashboard/.