With narcotic painkiller abuse now linked to 142 cases of HIV in rural Indiana, US health officials are alerting other states to watch for clusters of HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users, reports Medicinenet.
The Scott County epidemic is "a powerful reminder that people who inject drugs are at high risk for both HIV and hepatitis," said Dr Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. HIV, the Aids-causing virus, "can gain ground at any time unless we remain vigilant about prevention, testing and care," he said. There is no indication that HIV infection among injection drug users is spreading beyond this area of Indiana, he said. "But it will be critical to examine all available data on the state and local level to assess whether HIV is increasing among injection drug users in any area and to be sure any increases are being detected," Mermin said.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 3,900 new cases of HIV each year are attributable to injection drug use. "That's down nearly 90% from a peak of 35,000 annually in the 1980s," Mermin noted. However, because of widespread narcotic painkiller abuse in the US, hepatitis C infections increased 150% between 2010 and 2013. Most of these infections have resulted from sharing needles, he pointed out.
The CDC health advisory is designed to alert state health departments to the hepatitis C epidemic and the possibility of current or future HIV outbreaks among people who inject drugs, Mermin said.
Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr Jerome Adams said that the Scott County outbreak is unique because the rural locale has had little HIV previously and because it's related to pervasive injection drug use. "We literally have new cases being reported every day on an hourly basis," Adams said.
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