Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people under 50.

Provisional data from the federal government shows 66,972 people died of drug overdoses in the U.S. in the 12 months leading up to July, including 5,443 in Pennsylvania.

That's a 14.4 percent increase nationally. In Pennsylvania, the number increased by 43 percent.

Photo credit: Matt Rourke, Associated Press

Still rising

Most overdose deaths now involve an opioid such as heroin or a prescription painkiller. We don't know how many of the 2017 deaths resulted from opioid overdoses, but the count in 2016 was 42,249.

How does that compare with other leading killers, such as guns, wars, disease and accidents?

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Photo credit: SEAN SIMMERS

The killer on the rise

The 42,246 opioid deaths are more than the death toll of breast cancer, which kills 41,070 people in the United States annually.

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Photo credit: HENRI HUET/AP

Vietnam War

In its deadliest year, 16,899 American soldiers died in Vietnam.

In the roughly 10 years that the U.S. fought in Vietnam, 58,220 U.S. troops died.

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Gun deaths

33,000 people are killed by firearms annually, according to fivethirtyeight.com.

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Photo credit: James Robinson

Suicide

Each year, 44,965 people take their own lives.

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Photo credit: PennLive archives

Korean War

During roughly three years of fighting in Korea, 36,516 U.S. troops were killed.

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Melanoma

This cancer claims 9,320 lives annually.

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Photo credit: SEAN SIMMERS

Motor vehicle deaths

37,461 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016.

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Iraq War

In 2007, the deadliest year of the Iraq War, 961 Americans died fighting there.

The death toll among U.S. forces from 2003 to 2011 was 4,497.

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HIV/AIDS

6,721 deaths in the U.S. in 2015 were attributed directly to HIV.

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World War II

During roughly four years, from 1941 to 1945, there were 416,800 U.S. casualties.

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Photo credit: James Robinson

Prostate cancer

This cancer kills 29,400 people each year.

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Image credit: Wikipedia

The Great Plague of London, 1665

London records indicate 68,596 people there died of the bubonic plague beginning in the spring of 1665 and ending in early 1666. Expert say the truth number of deaths was likely between 75,000 and 100,000.

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Image credit: Wikipedia

Hong Kong flu pandemic, 1968

The flu pandemic appeared first in China in July 1968, and by the end of the year was widespread in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 100,000 people in the U.S. died before the pandemic ended about a year later. The death toll around the world is estimated at between 1 million and four million.

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Spanish flu pandemic, 1918-19

It's estimated that this pandemic killed about 675,000 in the United States and 25 million to 50 million deaths worldwide.

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Photo credit: David Goldman/Associated Press

Seasonal flu in the United States

12,000 to 56,000 deaths annually

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Gulf War

In the Gulf War, U.S. forces suffered 294 deaths. Of those, 149 were battle-related and 145 died in non-combat accidents.

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Measles -- pre-vaccine era

In 1912 the government began tracking measles cases. There were an average of 6,000 measles-related deaths per year in the United States during the next decade. This was before measles vaccine.

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Photo credit: JOE HERMITT

Some other cancers

Here are the death tolls of other cancers:

All types of leukemia -- 24,370 deaths annually

Pancreatic cancer -- 44,430 deaths annually

Liver cancer -- 30,200 deaths annually

Photo shows Penn State players including Saquon Barkley participating in a charity event to fight cancer.

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Read more

Meet the tiniest and most innocent victims of the opioid epidemic.

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Seven moms, dads look back in anguish: What could have saved their children from heroin?

These moms lost their children to drugs. Now they try to save others. They're PennLive's Newsmakers of the Year.