(Newswire.net — April 11, 2015) Austin, IN — Indiana Govenor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency in Scott County, March 26 that temporarily waived the state’s ban on needle-exchange programs.
Scott County, a rural, economically struggling area about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky is the epicenter of the HIV outbreak in Indiana, officials confirmed. The number of infected with HIV virus is now more than 100.
Indiana state public health officials said on Friday, that the number of confirmed cases raised from 95 to 106, however, there are more cases in review, Reuters reported.
Officials said Friday that the outbreak occurred due to infected needle sharing among drug users.
The Indiana officials stated they’re trying to combat unfounded fears among drug users that they could be arrested if they take part in a needle-exchange program created to stem the spread of the virus.
A short-term state-authorized needle exchange program began on Saturday in Scott County to combat the outbreak. The program authorized by Governor Mike Pence expires on April 25, but may be extended if necessary.
The needle exchange programs provide drug users with sterile needles to try to prevent infections from spreading through the sharing of contaminated needles.
The needle exchange program began last Saturday in Austin, a city of about 4,500 residents that is the epicenter of the outbreak, but as of Monday only four people had joined the needle-exchange program.
Those four had exchanged 300 used needles and received 168 new, clean ones in return.
According to Wikipedia, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (a subgroup of retrovirus) that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
AIDS is a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.
Without treatment, the average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells.