A public health outbreak management framework applied to surges in opioid overdoses
Keyword(s):
The Past
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Objective: Over the past decade, Canada and the United States have been facing an epidemic of harms from prescription opioids. More recently, opioid-naïve individuals have been exposed to illicit opioids through adulterated combination products. This has resulted in sudden surges of opioid-related mortality. A proactive public health solution is needed to prevent further death. We propose examining these surges in opioid overdoses as outbreaks and investigating them in a similar way to an outbreak of an infectious disease. An epidemiologic investigation model for opioid overdose outbreaks, that could be modified by other public health agencies,is discussed.
2020 ◽
Vol 32
(4)
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pp. 337-355
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Keyword(s):
Keyword(s):