Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences presented at the Overdose to Action in States Biosurveillance Technical Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Fatal and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses have increased in New York State since 2010. The New York State Department of Health uses multiple data sources – including mortality, emergency department, hospitalization, and emergency medical services data – to monitor overdose trends and support prevention efforts.
In addition to these surveillance systems, Dr. Kannan’s laboratory analyzes urine samples from patients admitted to emergency departments for suspected nonfatal overdoses. This CDC-funded overdose biosurveillance program provides detailed information about specific drugs and drug combinations, as well as populations disproportionately affected by overdose. Over the past two years, Dr. Kannan’s laboratory has analyzed more than 70 drugs in urine samples from 2,000 overdose patients in the Buffalo region. At the Nashville meeting, he reported on drug combinations detected among overdose patients and individuals with substance use disorder in western New York. His laboratory found an average of seven drugs occurring simultaneously in patient samples. Fentanyl and cocaine were detected in more than 80% of patients, while fentanyl and xylazine – a veterinary tranquilizer and sedative – were found together in 48% of samples.
Although polysubstance use in overdose is well recognized, the specific drug combinations and associated symptoms remain an important area of investigation as the illicit drug landscape changes. The overdose biosurveillance program will continue collecting data from nonfatal overdose patients in New York to inform state and CDC intervention and prevention strategies.