Fighting the Opioid Overdose Epidemic with a Vaccine

According to the the Centers for Disease Control, 66% of the more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016 involved an opioid. It’s an epidemic involving prescription opioids, drugs like heroin, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which have combined the drive the numbers higher every year. In 2016, the number of opioid overdose deaths was five times higher then in 1999. Researchers at the University of Maryland are working on ways to combat the epidemic. One possibility is a vaccine. Learn more in this video. The University of Maryland School of Medicine serves as the anchor for a large academic health center which aims to provide the best medical education, conduct the most innovative biomedical research and provide the best patient care and community service to Maryland and beyond.