Authorities on Monday confirmed the first death in Santa Clara County attributed to a dangerous animal tranquilizer that is increasingly mixed with opioids like fentanyl and heroin.
"We know that we now have the first death in Santa Clara County in which Xylazine and fentanyl were both found," said Dr. Akanksha Vaidya, an assistant public health officer with Santa Clara County.
Health care leaders say mixing "tranq" into opioids is a trend growing across the country and now locally. "Xylazine really affects the nervous system, the main thing it does is that it makes people really, really sleepy," Vaidya said. "This can affect your breathing, and it can slow down your breathing and your heart rate. The other thing that we have seen with xylazine is that it can cause really severe skin wounds."
The news of the first xylazine death in Santa Clara County comes as county leaders are making a push to make naloxone also known as Narcan more widely available.Though it may not be able to completely reverse the effects of a xylazine overdose, doctors say administering it should be the first step. "Because xylazine is often mixed with heroin and, or fentanyl, and naloxone is going to reverse the effects of those drugs," Vaidya said.
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