Notes From the Field: Xylazine-Related Deaths - Cook County, Illinois, 2017-2021

To determine temporal trends in xylazine-involved deaths in Cook County, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and Cook County Health analyzed suspected substance-related deaths from January 2017 to October 2021 for the presence of xylazine and co-occurring substances. The percentage of fentanyl-associated deaths involving xylazine also increased throughout the study period, rising to a peak of start highlight12.2%end highlight of fentanyl-related deaths assessed by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office during October 2021. Am J Public Health 2020;110:98–105. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305368 PMID:31725315 Neeraj Chhabra, MD1,2; Mojde Mir, MPH3; Miao Jenny Hua, MD, PhD4,5; Sarah Berg, MD2; Juleigh Nowinski-Konchak, MD4,5,6; Steve Aks, DO1,2; Ponni Arunkumar, MD3; Keiki Hinami, MD6 1Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cook County Health, Chicago, Illinois; 2Toxikon Consortium, Chicago, Illinois; 3Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Chicago, Illinois; 4Department of Preventive Medicine, Cook County Health, Chicago, Illinois; 5Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago Illinois; 6Center for Health Equity and Innovation, Cook County Health, Chicago, Illinois.