Drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent years. In 2021, 106,699 people died of overdoses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that number was up 14 percent from the year before.
Experts contend that it’s not that more people are using drugs; it’s that the drug supply has been contaminated with highly potent fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin. Overdose deaths that included fentanyl increased by 22 percent last year alone.
While there are effective treatments for opioid addiction disorders, like the medications buprenorphine and methadone, and naloxone for reversing overdoses, the problem is still getting worse. As a result, scientists are rushing to find solutions.
Researchers at the University of Houston think that a vaccine might help. In an October 2022 study published in the journal Pharmaceutics, researchers were able to show that in rodent models, a fentanyl ...
