The IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention (RCAP) are presenting a public panel discussion about the recent HIV outbreak in rural southern Indiana at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 in the Whittenberger Auditorium.
Charles Rondot, communications director for the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, helped promote the panel discussion and raise awareness about the issues that prompted it.
“The panel marks World AIDS Day,” Rondot said. “We chose to host the panel on that day because the discussion is a reminder that we’ve not yet dealt with all the circumstances that can lead to HIV transmission.”
Rondot said the panel is happening to discuss the local, regional, state and national responses to the increase in HIV infections that occurred last year in rural southern Indiana.
Last January, the Indiana State Department of Health began an ongoing investigation of an outbreak of HIV infection after Indiana disease intervention specialists reported 26 confirmed cases of HIV traced to Scott County in southeastern Indiana.
“Historically, fewer than five cases of HIV infection have been reported annually in this county,” Rondot said. “The majority of cases were residents of the same community and were linked to syringe-sharing partners injecting the prescription opioid oxymorphone, a powerful oral semi-synthetic opioid analgesic.”
Eventually, the outbreak grew to more than 180 cases of HIV, most of them in Scott County. The majority of cases were in residents of the same community and were also infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a report from the Center of Disease Control.
Citing Dr. Jonathon Mermin, director of CDC’s Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, Rondot said the outbreak is one of the worst documented HIV outbreaks among IV users in the past two decades.
The panel will be comprised of experts from the U.S. CDC, Indiana State Department of Health, Positive Link Bloomington, Scott County, Indiana and RCAP.
Panel members include Beth Meyerson, the co-director of Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention; Emily Brinegar, a licensed social worker and prevention coordinator and support specialist at IU Community Health Positive Link; Brittany Combs, a public health nurse for the Scott County Health Department; Amy Hays, a care coordinator at IU Community Health Positive Link; Jennifer Walthall, the deputy health commissioner for the Indiana State Department of Health and Paul Weidle, epidemiology field team leader for the CDC.
Dr. William Yarber, the senior director of RCAP, will serve as the discussion moderator.
“This panel brings together people from all aspects of the outbreak response: our colleagues from the state who led the response effort; the Centers for Disease Control, who provided field epidemiologists and counsel; our local AIDS community partners, who left their current jobs to assist in Scott County; and Scott County’s public health leadership,” Meyerson said in an IU press release.
Panelists will discuss how the outbreak started, what challenges their organization faced in attempts to halt the outbreak and how the knowledge gained from these experiences will guide future public health HIV prevention programs in rural areas.
Rondot said the discussion will serve as an opportunity for students to understand the roles of regional, state and national entities during a time of crisis and to help shed light on a problem that he said many people would rather turn their backs on.
“There are lasting outcomes of this epidemic including lifelong medical care which, for all the newly diagnosed with HIV, will total an estimated $80 million,” Rondot said.
Rondot said many communities across the country face similar challenges as those being experienced in rural southern Indiana.
“An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV around the world and more than 35 million people have died from HIV, which makes it one of the deadliest viruses in history,” Rondot said. “World AIDS Day, held on the first of December every year, is an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV and become educated about the virus.”
