Hartford, Conn. (WTIC Radio)-Covid has in a sense postponed and cancelled other diseases that need to be addressed, according to Dr. Ulysses Wu, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Hartford Healthcare.
Dr Wu, at a virtual briefing, said those diseases include addictions, cancer and heart disease.
Dr. Craig Allen, Vice President of Addiction Services at Hartford Healthcare addressed Opioid awareness. Over the weekend, a 13-year-old at a Hartford school died from a fentanyl overdose. Two other students were hospitalized and since released.
He said that incident drives home the need for parents to talk to their kids about opioids.
"The big concern about opioids/fentanyl is their strength and potency. Trying it once can kill you. Over 85 percent of overdose deaths in this state are opioid-related."
Dr. Allen said schools should have Naloxone or other overdose reversal drugs on hand, adding fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin.
With an increased availability of opioids, Dr. Allen said you need to talk to your children at a developmentally appropriate age. " You talk to your kids differently when they're adolescents or young adults. These days you talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol at about eight years of age."