Jennifer Feltes, an epidemiologist with the Fairfax County Health Department, was part of a team that presented on the opioid/fentanyl epidemic underway in Fairfax County, and across the nation. More than a hundred people attended the community town hall held on Monday evening, April 24 at W.T. Woodson High School. Presentations included the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Substance Abuse Program staff, Fairfax County Police Department narcotics officer, and outreach specialists from the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB). The Fairfax County Public School Superintendent led the meeting where she said: “It’s time to get real.”

Feltes shared data on national opioid trends, including the rapid increase in fentanyl deaths among adolescents in the United States since 2019:

Feltes also highlighted opioid overdose trends at the local level. Among all ages in Fairfax Health District, there were 304 emergency department (ED) visits for non-fatal opioid overdose in 2022: an increase of about 50% since 2019.

There has also been an increase in opioid overdose deaths from 2019 to 2021 (with 2022 data outstanding). As opioid overdose deaths have risen over the years, the proportion of opioid overdose deaths involving fentanyl has risen as well. Since 2020, more than 90% of all opioid overdose deaths in Fairfax Health District have involved fentanyl.

Among youth ages 17 and younger in Fairfax Health District, there has also been an increase in ED visits for non-fatal opioid overdose in recent years. After zero non-fatal opioid overdose ED visits in 2019, these counts rose from 2020 through 2022. In 2022, there were 27 ED visits for non-fatal opioid overdose among youth, and through March of this year, there has been 11 such ED visits. Feltes shared that opioid overdose deaths have occurred among our youth as well: from 2020 through the third quarter of 2022, there were 7 fatal opioid overdoses among youth in Fairfax Health District. All of these deaths involved fentanyl.

For more information on fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses in Fairfax Health District, visit the Health Department’s opioid overdose dashboard.

As the Town Hall concluded, a panel of principals shared their observations over the past school year. One of them urged teens to contact adults or school personnel when they are concerned over a friend’s drug use: “see something, say something, save someone.” Another principal urged, “It’s time to de-stigmatize conversations around mental health.” The superintendent ended the forum, reminding all attendees, “What affects one of us, affects all of us.”