{"id":10024,"date":"2015-03-10T16:12:48","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T21:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=10024"},"modified":"2015-03-10T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T21:15:17","slug":"indiana-hiv-outbreak-continues-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/indiana-hiv-outbreak-continues-to-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana HIV Outbreak Continues to Grow"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jamie Friedlander<\/p>\n

Southeastern Indiana health officials confirmed\u00a0today an HIV outbreak there continues unabated. As of March 6 there are 44 confirmed and 11 preliminary cases of HIV. The outbreak is connected to injection of the prescription drug Opana, an opioid painkiller that contains oxymorphone, a narcotic pain reliever.<\/p>\n

State officials\u00a0first reported the outbreak Feb. 25,\u00a0after identifying\u00a0 26 confirmed and 4 preliminary HIV positive cases since mid-December. These cases have been reported in Scott, Clark, Jackson, Perry and Washington counties.<\/p>\n

According to Jennifer Walthall, deputy health commissioner for the Indiana State Department of Health, the outbreak is particularly challenging because it is occurring among substance abusers.<\/p>\n

[field name=”HIV map”]<\/p>\n

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2014, Scott, Jackson, Perry and Washington counties each saw fewer than 5 cases of HIV, while Clark saw 12 cases. In the first few months of 2015 alone, these 5 counties combined have seen 44 confirmed positive HIV cases. (Indiana State Department of Health<\/a>, Jamie Friedlander\/Medill)<\/div>\n

\u201cAs you can imagine, an outbreak of unexpected cases of HIV in and of itself is concerning,\u201d said Walthall. \u201cAll of the cases are linked to injection drug abuse, which adds layers of additional resources that need to be provided to persons who have acquired this disease. It makes investigation of spread different and challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some individuals also reported sexual intercourse as a possible mode of transmission, according to a press release<\/a> from the Indiana State Department of Health.<\/p>\n

An outbreak means there is an occurrence of disease in excess of what would be expected in a particular region. As of Dec. 31, 2014<\/a>, Scott, Jackson, Perry and Washington counties each reported fewer than five new cases of HIV during the previous year, while Clark County reported 12. These five counties combined have already seen 44 confirmed new cases in just the last few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what we should be paying attention to is that this could potentially have been prevented through safe needle exchange or safe access to clean needles so that people don\u2019t need to share or reuse their needles,\u201d said Daliah Mehdi, the chief clinical officer at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.<\/p>\n

In Illinois, people 18 and older\u00a0must be allowed to\u00a0purchase up to 20 hypodermic syringes from a pharmacy under the Hypodermic Syringes and Needles Act<\/a>, which was\u00a0implemented to give injection drug users a\u00a0source of safe, clean needles. \u00a0In Indiana, pharmacists have\u00a0discretion over whether\u00a0to sell hypodermic needles to residents.<\/p>\n

Walthall said the number of future cases is uncertain. \u201cI can\u2019t necessarily speculate on the parameters or perimeter of where this particular outbreak will stop,\u201d she said. \u201cI do know that we are being very vigilant about finding every possible contact of positive individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHIV has not gone away. It is very much still an epidemic that we are in the middle of.”<\/p>\n

– Daliah Mehdi,\u00a0AIDS Foundation of Chicago<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHIV has not gone away,\u201d said Mehdi. \u201cIt is very much still an epidemic that we are in the middle of. We are at the point where we have more prevention options available to us and so we need to make sure people have access to every prevention method that we know of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Health officials in Southeastern Indiana now report 44 confirmed cases of HIV as part of the recent outbreak there. (Steven\u00a0<\/a>Depolo<\/a>\/Creative Commons<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jamie Friedlander Southeastern Indiana health officials confirmed\u00a0today an HIV outbreak there continues unabated. As of March 6 there are 44 confirmed and 11 preliminary cases of HIV. The outbreak is connected to injection of the prescription drug Opana, an opioid painkiller that contains oxymorphone, a narcotic pain reliever. State officials\u00a0first reported the outbreak Feb. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":10026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,30,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-science","category-public-affairs","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nIndiana HIV Outbreak Continues to Grow - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/indiana-hiv-outbreak-continues-to-grow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indiana HIV Outbreak Continues to Grow - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jamie Friedlander Southeastern Indiana health officials confirmed\u00a0today an HIV outbreak there continues unabated. 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