BACKGROUND:Little is known about the characteristics that may predispose an individual to being at risk for fatal overdose from prescription opioids. OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics related to unintentional prescription opioid overdose deaths in Utah. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted (October 2008-October 2009) with a relative or friend most knowledgeable about the decedent's life. SUBJECTS: Analyses involved 254 decedents aged 18 or older, where cause of death included overdose on at least one prescription opioid. KEY RESULTS: Decedents were more likely to be middle-aged, Caucasian, non-Hispanic/Latino, less educated, not married, or reside in rural areas than the general adult population in Utah. In the year prior to death, 87.4 % were prescribed prescription pain medication. Reported potential misuse prescription pain medication in the year prior to their death was high (e.g., taken more often than prescribed [52.9 %], obtained from more than one doctor during the previous year [31.6 %], and used for reasons other than treating pain [29.8 %, almost half of which "to get high"]). Compared with the general population, decedents were more likely to experience financial problems, unemployment, physical disability, mental illness (primarily depression), and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and use illicit drugs. The primary source of prescription pain medication was from a healthcare provider (91.8 %), but other sources (not mutually exclusive) included: for free from a friend or relative (24 %); from someone without their knowledge (18.2 %); purchase from a friend, relative, or acquaintance (16.4 %); and purchase from a dealer (not a pharmacy) (11.6 %). CONCLUSIONS:The large majority of decedents were prescribed opioids for management of chronic pain and many exhibited behaviors indicative of prescribed medication misuse. Financial problems, unemployment, physical disability, depression, and substance use (including illegal drugs) were also common.

The premixed ink was the common source of infection in this outbreak. These findings led to a recall by the manufacturer.

Use of pain medication outside prescription bounds was a risk factor for death. However, decedents were more likely to have had chronic pain, and the majority of both groups had obtained pain medication by prescription. Other factors (e.g., smoking status) might also play important roles in prescription opioid-related death. Prescribers should screen chronic pain patients for risk factors.

On May 21, 2021, this report was posted as an MMWR Early Release on the MMWR website (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr).Cessation of kindergarten through grade 12 in-person instruction and extracurricular activities, which has often occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, can have negative social, emotional, and educational consequences for children (1,2). Although preventive measures such as masking, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and improved ventilation are commonly used in schools to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and support in-person instruction (3-6), routine school-based COVID-19 testing has not been as widely implemented. In addition to these types of standard preventive measures, Utah health and school partners implemented two high school testing programs to sustain extracurricular activities and in-person instruction and help identify SARS-CoV-2 infections: 1) Test to Play,* in which testing every 14 days was mandated for participation in extracurricular activities; and 2) Test to Stay, † which involved school-wide testing to continue in-person instruction as an alternative to transitioning to remote instruction if a school crossed a defined outbreak threshold (3). During November 30, 2020-March 20, 2021, among 59,552 students tested through these programs, 1,886 (3.2%) received a positive result. Test to Play was implemented at 127 (66%) of Utah's 193 public high schools and facilitated completion of approximately 95% of scheduled high school extracurricular winter athletics * Test to Play, which required testing every 14 days for participants in high school extracurricular activities, is described in the Utah COVID-19 School Manual (https://coronavirus-download.utah.gov/School/COVID-19_School_Manual_ FINAL.pdf ) and was mandated by Utah State Public Health Order 2020-25 (https://coronavirus-download.utah.gov/Health/UPHO_2020-25_Statewide_ COVID-19_Restrictions.pdf ), effective November 30, 2020. † Beginning August 2020, schools were advised to transition to remote instruction for 14 days when the number of school-associated cases among students and staff members crossed a specified outbreak threshold. During August-December 2020, the outbreak threshold was 15 school-associated cases during the previous 14 days. Under Test to Stay (https://coronavirus-download.utah.gov/School/ COVID-19_School_Manual_FINAL.pdf ), which began January 4, 2021, the outbreak threshold of cases during the previous 14 days changed to 1% of the school population for schools with >1,500 students and staff members and 15 cases for schools with ≤1,500 students and staff members, and the period of advised remote instruction after crossing the outbreak threshold changed to 10 days. Beginning March 24, 2021 (after the study period), per Utah Senate Bill 107 (https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/static/SB0107.html), the outbreak threshold changed again, such that a school would be required to conduct Test to Stay if student cases during the previous 14 days reached 2% of the school's student population for ...

Chicken liver has been implicated in several reported U.S. illness outbreaks, probably caused by inadequate cooking and pathogen contamination. To identify commonalities among these outbreaks that could represent targets for prevention, we describe chicken liver–associated U.S. outbreaks during 2000–2016 reported to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in published literature. We identified 28 outbreaks (23 [82.1%] were campylobacteriosis only, 3 [10.7%] were salmonellosis only, and 2 [7.1%] were caused by both pathogens), with 18 (64.3%) occurring during 2014–2016. Common outbreak features included blended chicken liver dishes (e.g., pâté; 24 [85.7%]), inadequate cooking (26 [92.8%]), and preparation in foodservice settings (e.g., sit-down restaurants; 25 [89.3%]). The increasing frequency of reported outbreaks highlights chicken liver as an important food safety problem. Public health partners should collaborate on prevention measures, including education on proper foodservice preparation of blended chicken liver dishes.