CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Many of West Virginia’s counties
are among the 220 counties the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention identifies as the most vulnerable to outbreaks of HIV and
hepatitis C due to needle sharing during drug use.
Overall, counties in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee account for 56 percent of the total number of counties, with all of southern West Virginia along with parts of the Northern Panhandle and Eastern Panhandle among those identified as at risk.
“I think this is a real wake-up call. I think that the possibility this could happen is quite real,” said Dr. Judith Feinberg, a professor in West Virginia University’s School of Medicine.
An article in the Wall Street Journal provided the original preview of the CDC report that’s set to be published in full in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
The first HIV outbreak in the U.S. tied to the opioid epidemic was in Austin, Indiana and the counties the CDC has identified in 26 states have similar characteristics when it comes to unemployment rates, rural natures and overdose deaths among other factors.
“It’s extremely efficient to spread HIV through needle sharing,” Feinberg said of the potential for virus spread.
To stop any outbreak before it begins, “It’s going to take some very aggressive measures which have historically been hard to do,” she admitted during an appearance on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Those measures, according to Feinberg, include stopping the flow of drugs into the Appalachian region, adding to harm reduction programs like syringe exchanges, providing widespread testing for hepatitis B, C and HIV and making drug treatment more accessible.
“We have taken several measures, right now, in those areas to ensure that we’re not only impacting the heroin use that’s coming in, but also doing that in a way that we have robust surveillance activities, we identify if unsafe injection use is occurring and (we determine) what do we do about it,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and state health officer.
The CDC is recommending increased testing for hepatitis C and HIV in high risk areas and the development of outbreak response plans.
Those are important steps in Gupta’s view.
“We need to be thinking about how this is different and working towards a comprehensive response strategy that will not only involve medicine and treatment, but also the socioeconomic models of ensuring that this becomes a challenge as well as an opportunity for economic development,” Gupta said.
The lifetime costs of treatment people with HIV and hepatitis C could near $100 million, according to the CDC.
Overall, counties in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee account for 56 percent of the total number of counties, with all of southern West Virginia along with parts of the Northern Panhandle and Eastern Panhandle among those identified as at risk.
“I think this is a real wake-up call. I think that the possibility this could happen is quite real,” said Dr. Judith Feinberg, a professor in West Virginia University’s School of Medicine.
An article in the Wall Street Journal provided the original preview of the CDC report that’s set to be published in full in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
The first HIV outbreak in the U.S. tied to the opioid epidemic was in Austin, Indiana and the counties the CDC has identified in 26 states have similar characteristics when it comes to unemployment rates, rural natures and overdose deaths among other factors.
“It’s extremely efficient to spread HIV through needle sharing,” Feinberg said of the potential for virus spread.
To stop any outbreak before it begins, “It’s going to take some very aggressive measures which have historically been hard to do,” she admitted during an appearance on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Those measures, according to Feinberg, include stopping the flow of drugs into the Appalachian region, adding to harm reduction programs like syringe exchanges, providing widespread testing for hepatitis B, C and HIV and making drug treatment more accessible.
“We have taken several measures, right now, in those areas to ensure that we’re not only impacting the heroin use that’s coming in, but also doing that in a way that we have robust surveillance activities, we identify if unsafe injection use is occurring and (we determine) what do we do about it,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and state health officer.
The CDC is recommending increased testing for hepatitis C and HIV in high risk areas and the development of outbreak response plans.
Those are important steps in Gupta’s view.
“We need to be thinking about how this is different and working towards a comprehensive response strategy that will not only involve medicine and treatment, but also the socioeconomic models of ensuring that this becomes a challenge as well as an opportunity for economic development,” Gupta said.
The lifetime costs of treatment people with HIV and hepatitis C could near $100 million, according to the CDC.
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