U.S. Public Health Experts Focus on Injuries and Drug Overdose

NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Designer drugs and other trends in drug overdose" will be the focus of one session at an annual meeting of over 1,000 disease detectives from around the country. Epidemiologists will gather at the annual meeting of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), a national association of public health disease detectives.

This session, taking place Monday, June 23 from 4 PM to 5:30 PM, will give public health experts in injury prevention and surveillance the opportunity to discuss three topics. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) representative will discuss deaths in Rhode Island due to novel and illicit fentanyl-analog, a synthetic opioid. A Minnesota Department of Health representative will discuss synthetic cathinones, or "bath salts" as an example of illicit synthetic drugs. A representative from the Utah Department of Health will discuss opioid overdose hospitalizations.

Substance abuse and injury prevention are important issues for public health practitioners and CSTE conference attendees. Several sessions will take place during the conference to address the causes of injuries and how public health should address injury prevention. Injury surveillance methods will be discussed throughout the week as well as drug surveillance, traumatic brain injury, drug poisoning deaths, and suicide.

The job of an epidemiologist is to understand what causes people to get sick and to find ways to reduce illness, injury and death from preventable causes. CSTE members are devoted to detecting patterns in occurrence of illness and injury, meticulously analyzing clues, and applying findings to solve medical mysteries and inform decisions that protect people's health. The Annual Conference offers the opportunity for attendees to share research, broaden their knowledge, and improve the public's health. The conference will feature plenary and breakout sessions on current public health issues as well as roundtable discussions and poster presentations. Session topics include substance abuse, health disparities, climate change, healthcare-associated infections, foodborne disease outbreak response, and more.

Agenda information, including speaker biographies, is available at www.csteconference.org.

SOURCE Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

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