Superintendente de Texas advierte a padres tras muerte de 3 adolescentes por presunta sobredosis de fentanilo en un mes: 'Estoy preocupado'
The superintendent said he is aware of a half-dozens students who have overdosed since the start of summer
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the past month, three teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 from the same Texas County died of suspected fentanyl overdoses.
Hays County School Independent District (CSID) Eric Wright, Ph.D., issued an alert to the school community on Tuesday after the third Hays CSID student died of fentanyl poisoning this month.
"I’m worried," Wright said in a letter to the school district. "We take all safety and security issues very seriously, but this one is especially concerning. So far – and I am deeply grateful – we haven’t lost a single student to COVID or gun violence on our campuses. Both of these issues have rightfully been pressing matters the past couple of years. We must treat the fentanyl crisis with the same urgency."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The superintendent says Hays CSID is also aware of a half-dozen instances in which students, some of whom were as young as middle schoolers, have experienced life-threatening overdoses since the start of summer. His announcement comes amid record fentanyl poisoning deaths in Texas and across the United States.
Blue, counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid. (DEA)
"Quite often, in cases involving fentanyl, people who take the drug have no idea they are taking it," Wright said in a letter to the school district. "Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is often the ingredient used in counterfeit pills purchased on the street – sold as something else like Xanax, Percocet, or oxycodone. In the drug trade, fentanyl is a cheap alternative to other synthetic opioids and it takes so very little to kill."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}El fentanilo es un opioide sintético entre 50 y 100 veces más potente que la morfina. Es mortal en pequeñas dosis y se encuentra con más frecuencia en drogas recreativas, aunque algunos fabricantes y cárteles de drogas ilícitas han prensado fentanilo en pastillas para que parezcan analgésicos de venta con receta.
The most prominent fentanyl-laced pills in Hays County area are counterfeit, blue oxycodone M30 tablets, according to the Kyle Police Department.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There are also growing concerns in Texas and elsewhere about rainbow fentanyl, which are multi-colored counterfeit pills containing fentanyl that resemble candy.
There are growing concerns in Texas and elsewhere about rainbow fentanyl, which are multi-colored counterfeit pills containing fentanyl that resemble candy. (Northern District of West Virginia)
Wright encouraged parents to talk to their children and reach out to school nurses with questions about fentanyl.
Según datos de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC), el año pasado murieron la cifra récord de 107.000 estadounidenses por sobredosis de drogas y envenenamientos, en gran parte provocados por opioides sintéticos como el fentanilo. Un análisis de los datos de los CDC publicado en diciembre de 2021 por el grupo de sensibilización Familias contra el Fentanilo descubrió que la intoxicación por fentanilo ilícito fue la causa nº 1 de muerte de adultos estadounidenses de entre 18 y 45 años el año pasado.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Southern border seizures of the drug have soared in recent years. Customs and Border Protection seized 10,586 pounds of the drug in FY 2021. That is up from 4,558 pounds seized in FY 2020 and 2,633 pounds seized in FY 2019. China and Mexico are the primary sources for fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking into the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
El fentanilo es mortal en pequeñas dosis y es más frecuente encontrarlo en drogas recreativas, aunque algunos fabricantes y cárteles de drogas ilícitas han prensado fentanilo en pastillas que parecen analgésicos de venta con receta. (Agencia Antidroga (DEA))
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Aunque sigue sin estar claro cuánto fentanilo entra en EE.UU., ya que esa cifra se refiere sólo a aprehensiones de la droga, el número de muertes relacionadas con ella está aumentando. La Administración para el Control de Drogas advirtió a principios de este año de un "pico nacional" de sobredosis relacionadas con el fentanilo.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los expertos sugieren que los hogares tengan a mano Narcan -un medicamento utilizado para tratar las sobredosis de narcóticos- para salvar a quienes ingieran demasiado fentanilo.
Fox NewsAdam Shaw ha contribuido a este informe.