Us sees the first decline in overdose deaths since 2018, thanks to fentanyl vaccine efforts

Over 100,000 people died in the United States last year due to drug overdose. Among the many substances causing this grim toll is the synthetic opioid fentanyl. This substance is a hundred times stronger than morphine. Americans are working intensively on vaccines against fentanyl.

It is estimated that in 2023, 107,543 people in the United States died from drug overdoses, according to "The Guardian." This number is shocking but is the first annual decrease since 2018. In 2023, overdoses decreased by 3 percent. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), fentanyl is responsible for 74,000 deaths, while methamphetamine causes over 36,000 more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that over a million people have died from drug overdoses since 2001.

Despite this few percent decrease, it is the third year in a row that the United States has recorded over 100,000 deaths annually, reports PAP, citing "The Washington Post." Since 2021, the federal administration has invested billions of dollars in providing Americans with access to proven therapies such as methadone and buprenorphine treatment, as well as naloxone, a drug used after fentanyl overdoses. Americans are also working on a vaccine against synthetic opioids.

"This year, two promising candidates for fentanyl vaccines may enter clinical trials," said Dr Piotr Rzymski, Associate Professor at the Poznań University of Medical Sciences, to PAP. "Both have successfully passed preclinical tests on animals, producing high titers of antibodies against this opioid. There is a chance they will begin human trials in the coming months," added the specialist.

Prof. Rzymski noted that vaccines aiding the treatment of chemical substance addiction are a little-known concept. "The concept of anti-drug vaccines is based on utilizing immune mechanisms that normally serve to neutralize pathogens. However, in this case, we aim to direct this system's action towards neutralizing chemical substances, not viruses or bacteria," he explained.

"The trick is to induce the body to produce antibodies that will recognize the drug, then bind to it, thereby preventing it from crossing the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system, where it normally exerts its euphoric effects," added Prof. Piotr Rzymski.

In March, the weekly "Economist" wrote that every 14 months, more Americans die from fentanyl addiction than died in all wars that the United States has fought since 1945.

This is—as the British Weekly explained—a dream substance for drug dealers, as its production does not require extensive cultivation of plants such as marijuana or coca. Pill production can occur in miniature, "home-based, " and hard-to-detect labs; smuggling and transport are exceptionally easy.

Chemicals that are fentanyl precursors are produced on a large scale in China, where the pharmaceutical industry is highly developed, and in India, where it is not strictly controlled. Mexican drug cartels import these substances and produce fentanyl in improvised labs. It is then sent to the USA, with most of this transport crossing through legal export routes.

Regularly, footage circulates on the internet showing American streets where people affected by addiction to this synthetic opioid can be seen. People with an addiction often die on the roads.