Health officials have warned the public on Wednesday against the use and misuse of injection drugs after finding that the latest HIV outbreak is related to sharing needles.
In the largest HIV outbreak recorded in one region, Indiana now has 26 confirmed cases and four more preliminary cases.
Indiana health officials traced the latest outbreak to the painkiller injection drug Opana and unprotected sex. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also warned that injection drug use accounts for eight percent of the new HIV cases per year especially when people are sharing needles.
"Addicts use and misuse needles," Karyn Hascal, president of The Healing Place in Louisville, which serves Southern Indiana addicts, told USA Today. "When you have injectable drugs like prescription pills and other narcotics being abused as much as they have been, (Hepatitis) C and HIV are soon to follow. ... I knew that HIV and Hep C would come back."
Some of the identified cases were in Clark, Jackson, Scott and Washington counties, all north of Louisville, Kentucky, and Perry County, an hour west of Evansville, Reuters reported.
"Because prescription drug abuse is at the heart of this outbreak, we are not only working to identify, contact and test individuals who may have been exposed, but also to connect community members to resources for substance abuse treatment and recovery," Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams said in a statement.
People usually reuse needles so that they don't need to buy a new one, but there are actually needle exchange programs where people can bring their used needles to have them replaced with a new one.
While health officials are busy trying to contain the outbreak, they are advising the public to protect themselves from contracting the virus by avoiding injection drugs, needle-sharing and having unprotected sex. They are also encouraging people to get tested and seek help if they are struggling with addiction.
