(WTTW News)

Opioid overdose deaths in Cook County are on pace to match a record high set during 2022, according to preliminary 2023 data from the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The vast majority of those deaths – 90% – involved fentanyl.

The medical examiner’s office has confirmed 1,540 opioid overdose deaths for 2023 so far. It anticipates more than 400 of its pending cases will be due to opioid toxicity as toxicology tests results come back, putting the final number for 2023 near 2022 totals.

Of the confirmed opioid overdose cases, about 80% are male, according to the medical examiner’s office.

African Americans account for 56% of confirmed opioid overdose deaths, the office reports. That’s followed by Whites who accounted for 27% and then Latinos who accounted for under 15% of confirmed opioid overdose deaths.

The age group most impacted is 50- to 59-year-olds, making up 27% of overdose deaths, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The year’s youngest opioid overdose death in Cook County was an 8-month-old boy from Chicago, the office says. The oldest was a 93-year-old woman from Arlington Heights.

Opioid overdose deaths in Cook County have increased over 200% since 2015, largely being driven by the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.

In 2022, 90% of opioid overdose deaths in the county involved fentanyl compared to 15% of opioid overdose deaths involving fentanyl in 2015, according to the county's medical examiner’s office data.